Honestly, How hard is the Leaving Cert?

spurious

Digital Solitude wrote: »

400 last year anyways. I'd say its 400 most, if not every year

I think that might be just of those who apply for the CAO - it would be a bit lower if everyone is included.

Wanderer78

ah the leaving is overrated folks but thats not a reason to goof off in school. do the best you can but dont set your goals too high and stress yourself out too much. if it doesnt work out for you, theres always other options in life and generally back doors into whatever you wanna do in life. best of luck with the exams and enjoy the summer

Lollipop95

I did my leaving cert last year and I wish someone had sat me down in 5th year and told me to stop being lazy and study. (Sorry for long post! )

For my leaving I did 2 higher level subjects - English and Home Ec
The rest were ordinary. Because of sheer laziness I ended up doing ordinary in business and biology. At the time I didn't really care tbh but now (hindsight is a great thing!) I'm annoyed I didn't work harder. If I'd actually knuckled down in 5th year I know 100% I would've been doing 4 higher level subjects instead of 2. I did foundation level maths but well, that was always going to be the case as I possess ZERO ability with figures. Miraculously I ended up with a D2 in the leaving.

I got 250 points in my leaving cert AND I'm proud of that because in my mocks I only got about 100 and something points (again, couldn't be arsed to really study that hard). I failed home ec in the mocks by quite a bit and in the leaving due to really studying hard over the Easter (probably would've gotten a better grade if I started studying sooner tbh!) I got a C3.

Same was with biology - failed that miserably in the mocks and after being told a few weeks before the leaving cert by my biology teacher that she was worried I'd fail (I'm so glad she said it because it motivated me a hell of a lot) I studied really hard and got a C2.

I sometimes wonder what points I could've gotten if I bothered to actually study properly from the get go and I know I could've done a hell of a lot better. But then, I was NEVER a very academic student - the only subject I enjoyed was English. I LOVED English and I got a C1 in that. That grade still deeply annoys me because I didn't feel I deserved it. I suppose I could have spent more time on it but it was the one subject I've always loved. Probably should've appealed but meh! I know myself that I deserved more than a C1 and exams don't accurately reflect true intelligence imo. However they're VERY important.

So to sum it up - if you study, the leaving cert will be a breeze imo. Just don't stress because it's made to be a mountain out of a molehill. Honestly, familiarise yourself with exam papers (godsend for biology) and study consistently and you will be grand!


Just to add - my points would've given me the course I wanted in an IT but not the maths grade so I would've needed around 300 points to get into arts in
NUIG, which I was hoping for. I was a bit disappointed at the time but I did a plc in business and I'll now hopefully get
the course I wanted originally in an IT this September! Actually delighted tbh I didn't get arts now..so it all works out in the end. There are back door routes into everything!

wattlebird

I would say they're more stressful and mentally draining than academically hard... Regardless of studying, it's extremely difficult not to succumb to the "The next two weeks determines EVERYTHING and my life will be over if I don't get the points I need" train of thought.

I did my Leaving in 2011 and have never experienced anything near that feeling of impending doom with college exams. Yes the college exams were more academically challenging, but each of those exams contributed towards a small percentage of my overall degree grade, so it didn't seem like the end of the world if I did badly in one, because there was plenty of time to make it up.

With most Leaving Cert subjects on the other hand, your entire grade for 2 years of work depends on 2-3 hours of frantic writing. If you happen to be feeling sick or just have a bad day, tough luck.

I am quite academically-minded and find it easy to learn off chunks of information, so I did well in the Leaving Cert. This hasn't stopped me from being mentally scarred due to the immense pressure! I cried before, during and after getting my results purely because I had built it up so much in my head... It's cringy to remember it now, but if there's a course you really want, it's incredibly difficult to get some perspective when the importance of the exams is constantly being drilled into your head.

TLDR - The pressure surrounding the exams is much more difficult to deal with than actually sitting the exams themselves.

Good luck everyone - I know I drastically failed to do this during my Leaving, but just try to remember there's light at the end of the tunnel no matter how many points you get. There's always another way. :P

RoRo979

it is a generic test, so what i say is easy or hard is not the same for you. Personally i have pretty good intelligence, dont need to do much work, 400 zone is reachable with minimal studt for me. However put someone else in the same scenario and with minimal study they would be lucky to pass everything

thewhistler8

Really depends on you, on how you study, what your natural ability is etc. Im doing my leaving now and personally I have done a total of about 12 hours study in the last 2 years. Did a similar amount for Junior Cert and got 2 A's, 7 B's and 3 C's. I'm expecting to get between 450-500 points for leaving cert depending on whether physics and religion go well.
I know other people who study their asses off 2-3 hours a night and are aiming for 400 points... I do higher in all subjects but I might take the ordinary physics paper because it's going to be my 7th subject without a doubt anyway.
So basically some of us can manage all honour grades in higher level doing nothing while others study for hours to do the same thing. Your fifth year summer exam results combined with your knowledge of the effort you put in for them are probably a good indication of what you can expect for the work you put in.

yoyojc

I'm almost finished mine and I can honestly say it's alot harder than I was expecting.

The thing is there is no way anyone would last at a Higher Level subject without putting in work unless of course it's their native language.

You have to put in so much work to every subject...

but if you keep on top of things and work hard you'll be fine, not necessarily going to mean you'll do great but you'll be just fine. Alot of it depends on whether or not the paper has q's that play to your strengths also. You could be very unlucky and be very weak at calculus and get a maths paper saturated with it...

LordKingJimmy

In my opinion it really depends on the subject. With the likes of English if you know the poetry and texts then you are set. If you practice eassys that your teacher gives you for homework the you will be fine. Same with maths if you just do the homework then you'll be fine.
However other subjects such as biology where the volume of information is so large you should be studying for it. I only started study for my leaving cert a week before and felt fine in the exams. However I had my PE teacher and Spanish teacher telling me i should be doing 4-5 hours of study a night for ALL my subjects but the My english teacher (who was a lot more qualified then them Phd and a lecturer in UCC) Told me that doing my homework and an hour or two on the stuff i found difficult was enough.

michele101

It's hard. Just finished my exams today and it was much harder than I expected. Throughout the past two years I worked hard and as I went through exam papers I felt it was getting easier!
The pressure was on after the mocks as my results really let me down. The thought that I mightn't get the points for my dream course is really scary, don't think i'm able to do that year again.
I felt quite depressed and stressed throughout the year and the exams themselves are really draining which makes it harder as the week goes on.
Don't think I realised how hard it was until the exams actually started tbh.
That was long haha oops

Stooped

I've woken up mornings forgetting I was doing exams that day. It depends on every student but for me, I'm one of those ones that 'have potential' but unfortunately I'm also quite lazy so those two don't go hand in hand. I know that I have the ability to get 500 points but I just can't be bothered. Right now, I'd be delighted to break 350. I do really regret not studying until late May and if I go to university next year (depending if I fail maths or not) then I will definitely try become studious and make the most with what I get.

The Leaving Cert can be stressful depending on how much preparation you've done for it. I've cried over it and I'm a lad. My last exam's tomorrow and I'm just going to get that out of the way and enjoy my summer without the dread of August hanging over me. But all in all, with the Leaving Cert you get what you put in.

YouKnowNothing

I'm doing it now at the momemt, personally I think it's all overrated, I feel like I'm breezing through it at the moment. Just do your homework regularly and then knuckle down hard after the mocks.
On another subject, still have no idea what I want to do next year :L stuck between maths, physics or pharmacy

The_N4sir

YouKnowNothing wrote: »

I'm doing it now at the momemt, personally I think it's all overrated, I feel like I'm breezing through it at the moment. Just do your homework regularly and then knuckle down hard after the mocks.
On another subject, still have no idea what I want to do next year :L stuck between maths, physics or pharmacy

I would somewhat agree. I think the studying and the build up is worse than the exams themselves IMO

EoghanIRL

The_N4sir wrote: »

I would somewhat agree. I think the studying and the build up is worse than the exams themselves IMO

Plus in college you have finals which is just like the lc again and you get used to having big exams at the end of each year.
The lc is the first time you sit important exams and is just a learning curve tbh.

Shanmcg97

There's no easier way to say it but just put in the work throughout the year. Put the effort into your homework so that you don't be writing out decent essays the night before the exam. You don't want to be the person getting up at half 5 to study for a subject. It sounds so simple and it's often said But if your doing a bit every night your doing well. The exams themselves are physically and mentally draining and there is defo a lot hype built up as they approach which isint needed. And p.s don't tell yourself that you'll cover something the night before an exam, cause that doesn't happen.