Leaving cert for external student (studying abroad)

kenz01

Hi,

I am moving back to Ireland next year and I would like to know if it's possible do to Leaving cert exam as external student. I won't be able to study in Ireland this year so I have to study at home - I am originally from Czech republic and we're staying here for a year.

Does anyone know what subjects I should choose as external student? I don't really have any help here (my bf is Irish but he did leaving cert in 2004 so he has no idea) so I am hoping someone is in similar situation...

I've seen online that I might not have to study Irish because I am not a native Irish. Is that true? Also I did have only language in school and that was English so I am not sure about languages part..

Not really sure about this.. Thanks for any kind of help or advice!

spurious

You can do Czech for the Leaving Cert..

You would need to contact the SEC about applying as an external and see if there are any residency requirements. I think you would run into trouble with subjects with project or practical elements. Would you be back in ireland in time for the Oral exams?

See http://www.examinations.ie for information.

kenz01

Thank you for the reply.

I am trying to avoid subjects that require some kind of projects (or practical elements). Do you know if there are any projects for English, Maths, Business, Physics? I've read on some site I might have to do 3 projects for History and that's a shame since I am really interested in doing it. Not sure about any other subject I could choose.

I will definitely be back to take the Oral exams.

Thanks for the link. I found this site this morning and emailed them so I'll see what they reply. I got a reply from Kilroys college and they said I need to be in Ireland in June .. I assume I don't need residency to be able to do Leaving cert.

tyty

I took the Leaving Cert this year as an external international student, but only in one subject (French) because I needed it for applying to university. I just wrote to different schools to get permission to sit the exams there and then registered as an external student. Unfortunately I can't advise you on which subjects to take.

happyturtle

I took the leaving cert as an external international student this year You have to apply for it and pay the fees, find a school that would allow you to sit the exams and then just study.... I did 7 subjects, none of them required projects or orals - maths, english, polish, biology, chemistry, accounting and business.

You should get an exemption from Irish if you were not born here, you have to apply to NUI, I got it without any problems. And as to other languages, you can always do Czech, examinations.ie has past papers archive, you can see how the exam paper looks like.

If you have any other questions I'd be happy to help

kenz01

Thank you! You made it very clear to me.

I got a reply from examinations.ie and they told me about doing Czech instead of Irish too. Great news today. I am really excited about it.

Did you find it very difficult to pass all these subjects as an external international student? I am not sure whether I should start buying all books now and where to buy them. Found English for LC 2012/2013 on bookdepository though:).

happyturtle

Well, I can't say it was easy, but definitely manageable I did all of the exams on higher level and found some of them pretty difficult - but I passed everything with good grades, got my points and will start my course in NUI Maynooth in 2 weeks Just make sure you understand marking schemes and know what they are looking for in your answers.

I was lucky enough to had an access to university library and borrowed all the books I needed, so I can't help you with that i'm afraid... But if you want I can tell you which books I was using?

kenz01

Congrats! Awesome you got good grades on higher level. I am not sure if I should do only ordinary level, my bf said he did mostly all ordinary levels and only very smart 'kids' in school were doing higher. So I have not decided yet about this.. but it's tempting for me to do some higher levels too.

Yeah, I am not expecting it to be easy.. I am ready for the challenge .


I also go to our main library over here in Prague and found out they have many books I will need for English exam. Those are only for reading part though..

Would be a great help if you could tell me which books you were using:).

spurious

Have you even basic Russian? If so, it's another subject you could do well in at HL as it only presumes two years of study and not native speaker status, such as Czech does.

kenz01

No.. I know probably about two words. Could probably try Slovakian language since I am half Slovak but that's it hehe.

Czech won't be that easy for me anyway because I've been away (until now) since I was 18 and I forgot a lot (certain expressions etc). Accounting and business (as happyturtle did) seem like something I should have no problem with.. I've done similar course in school before.. Let's see.

thanks for your tip anyway

Ed. Just last question for happyturtle.. I am going to study for all subjects you did except chemistry (I am VERY terrible at it), do you have any idea which other subject would not involve any project work? x

happyturtle

Hmm, I don't really know what other subjects do not require projects etc... And just so you know, you can do only 6 subjects, the seventh is usually added as a backup and is not compulsory

Be careful with Czech exam, my Polish was marked really harsh and afaik it's like that with Czech, Slovak etc... I checked my answers script on Friday (you can see your marked paper if you want) and there were no mistakes on it except two really small ones (I forgot to start one sentence with capital letter and forgot about a full stop) but I got only 74 out of 100 points. I'm appealing it as I'm not happy with the mark and I still don't know what was wrong there...

I think your choice re the level, ordinary or higher, should depend on what you want to do afterwards If you plan to go to University and need many points higher levels might be better choice and they are not that difficult And if you do higher level maths you get 25 bonus points

kenz01

Thank you for your reply again:)

I hope I will get some points for Czech... huh. Are you getting your results from Polish reviewed? I am not sure if you can do that but it sounds really strange.

I am not actually sure what I will do next but what can save me (if my results are not awesome) is that I can apply for Uni as a mature student too. Still want to do my best in Leaving Cert results though and apply for Uni and see what will happen .

hollingr

A full leaving cert is tough to do in one year - it is designed as a two year course! But if you already have a good grounding in some/most of the subjects and are studying full time it shouldn't be too bad.

I took up chemistry and biology from scratch as an external student this year, the hardest part is sticking to a schedule and staying motivate. Best of luck!

angela1711

happyturtle what are you going to study in nuim ?

happyturtle

angela1711 wrote: »

happyturtle what are you going to study in nuim ?

Pharmaceutical and biomedical chemistry Are you going there as well?

happyturtle

kenz01 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply again:)

I hope I will get some points for Czech... huh. Are you getting your results from Polish reviewed? I am not sure if you can do that but it sounds really strange.

I am not actually sure what I will do next but what can save me (if my results are not awesome) is that I can apply for Uni as a mature student too. Still want to do my best in Leaving Cert results though and apply for Uni and see what will happen .

Yes, you can have your results reviewed... I didn't do it in the end as I'm happy with my course

Good luck with your studying and if you have any other questions I'd be happy to help I'm a mature student as well

kenz01

hollingr - best of luck to you too!

I am quite unsure where to start and where to get books to learn from.. are there any available in Ireland already? I mean books for 2013 Leaving Cert. I've got only one - English. I feel very lost doing this on my own in a different country ..I've got so many questions, sorry .

happyturtle

Don't worry You will get there...
I'll just give you a list of books I was using - maybe it will help

Maths - 'texts and tests' O. D. Morris, you have to have books designed for 2013 exam as new strand will be tested
English - 'This is poetry 2013' Brian Forristal and Billy Ramsell and other prescribed books (for single text and comparative questions)
Biology - 'Leaving Certificate Biology Revised Edition' Michael O'Callaghan
Chemistry - 'Understanding chemistry' Jim McCarthy, Terence White and 'Chemistry now!' Gill & MacMillan
Business - 'Business Today' Pat McLaughlin & Peter Caulwell
Accounting - 'Accounting - Leaving Cert' Kevin O'Riordan

kenz01

You are so kind! Thank you loads.

So if I understand correctly, Maths and English books are different every year (or need to be ones for 2013) and for other subjects books are not different every year - that would mean I can buy them now?

Btw if you are in Dublin and want to sell those books I can buy them of you .. if you wanted, of course, maybe you want to keep them. Anyways, thanks again, you really helped me big time.

happyturtle

Yes, you're right - maths and english change every year whereas biology etc don't really. I can't really sell any books as I don't have them - I was using library ones and never bought any

If you have any other questions just ask And one more thing - you should make yourself familiar with marking schemes - it's not only about what you know but you have to answer questions the way they want it... Good luck

kenz01

OK will definitely have a proper look at it Thanks again!

I might have some question in the future... still unsure if I will need to do some oral exam but I think I will find that out later this year.
Good luck with your studies in Uni!

angela1711

happyturtle wrote: »

Pharmaceutical and biomedical chemistry Are you going there as well?

Yep, I'm doing Law and Business