Easiest Subjects to do outside of school for your leaving cert

KiaraA

I hoping to get at least 550 points in my leaving cert.
Subjects I'm going to do in school: Biology, Chemistry, Business, French.
What subject will I be able to get an H1/H2 in without it taking too much study time away from other subjects. Music was recommended to me but I don't know how to play any instruments, I can't sing, and I didn't do music for my JC. I'm doing TY so will I be able to learn before the leaving cert? Is there anything else I'll need to know about doing a subject outside of school?

NiamhMcH

I'm only heading into 5th year now so I'm not sure if I can be of any use but I think economics could be one of the easiest subjects to do outside of school.
I decided to sample it for the 2nd half of fourth year and despite not doing business studies for the JC I got an easy A1 in the Summer exams.

Japanese also produces a large amount of higher level As, if you live in Dublin or Sligo there are usually free Saturday classes for 5th and 6th years.

TheBiz

There are no easy subjects, I found English relatively easy. My friends despised it, some nearly failed.
It all depends on where your aptitudes lie. Often times the people who got 625 points are naturally good at maths, so they choose maths based subjects such as physics, chemistry, accounting and applied maths.
There are no easy subjects, just subjects you find easy. So think back to the Junior Cert and see what subjects you did well in without a great deal of effort and go from there.

KiaraA

Thank you both for your advice. Japanese sounds like a great idea since I love learning new languages, I'm just worried about learning Kanji. Are you allowed to study two foreign languages for the leaving cert? (sorry if i sound like I live under a rock XD)

StupidLikeAFox

I was doing physics and chemistry so applied maths was an obvious extra subject to do, and complemented both.

However, why do you want to do an extra subject anyway? You are currently doing 7 subjects and will be marked on your best 6 - why not devote the extra time to your current 7 subjects instead of stretching yourself so thin?

Before anybody asks, I did 8 subjects because I was doing two passes, so needed the Applied Maths to give me 6 honours subjects

KiaraA

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

I was doing physics and chemistry so applied maths was an obvious extra subject to do, and complemented both.

However, why do you want to do an extra subject anyway? You are currently doing 7 subjects and will be marked on your best 6 - why not devote the extra time to your current 7 subjects instead of stretching yourself so thin?

Before anybody asks, I did 8 subjects because I was doing two passes, so needed the Applied Maths to give me 6 honours subjects

I need at least 550 points or higher for medicine and I'm not that good at maths so I'm dropping down to ordinary. I'm getting better at HL Irish but I'm not sure I'll be getting my desired grade. The extra subject is more of a back-up plan. I'll make sure to do out a study plan.

Exiled1

Forget the extra subject. Best to do your very best at your 7. That number is a failsafe in any case since they only count 6. If you cannot manage HL Maths then you will certainly have some difficulty in 3rd level.
You can sit for as many languages or subjects as you like for LC and at any level you wish. A few years ago some fellow sat 20 subjects.....a vanity project if ever there was one!
Best of luck, don't worry and do your best.

Anita Blow

Bear in mind that the high % of good grades seen in non-core languages is generally because they are mostly taken by native speakers of that language, not because the papers themselves are easier than other subjects.

spurious

If you already play and have studied an instrument to a high level, Music.

The others? Some people will find one easier than another, some will find none easier than the other.

cheeto

Get some good Economics notes and it's easy

BadBannana

I know people who did History and Economics by themselves. If you're motivated and interested you can just as well, if not better than, your classmates. Now it does help to have teachers to talk to and if you are doing a subject out of school it would be a great help to have the odd grind or even evening class with your school teacher.

TSMGUY

Mr.S wrote: »

Economics is a doddle.

False, only 3.2% of economics hl students get A'1s. It's very easy to get a C/B in, but very difficult to get an A in.

Fifii

Japanese. Download an app for Hiragana and Katakana learning, there are tons. Kanji aren't easy but this is the leaving cert after all! It is only a 2 year course, so the standard is obviously not as high as any other language. There is an Oral and Aural component so make sure you get information about that but if you even have a slight interest in languages I would strongly advise you to learn Japanese. 100% my favourite subject, people always seem to think its a very hard subject but it has one of the highest A rates! The book, Nihongo Kantan, may be tricky to get your hands on but I bought my copy online second hand:) Good Luck in your choice!

randylonghorn

TSMGUY wrote: »

False, only 3.2% of economics hl students get A'1s. It's very easy to get a C/B in, but very difficult to get an A in.

Don't post in bold, there's a good pixie!

We use it around here for official-type mod instructions / messages.

TSMGUY

randylonghorn wrote: »

Don't post in bold, there's a good pixie!

We use it around here for official-type mod instructions / messages.

Sorry!

StupidLikeAFox

Had a look at all the available subjects just to see what was there:

Languages group

English, French, German, Irish, Italian, Latin, Greek, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Russian, Classical Studies, Hebrew Studies

Science group

Applied Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Physics and Chemistry

Business studies group

Accounting, Business, Economics

Applied science group

Agricultural Science, Construction Studies, Engineering, Home Economics, Physics and Chemistry, Design and Communication Graphics

Social studies group

Art, Geography, History, Home Economics, Music, Politics and Society

Politics and Society seems to be a brand new subject which looks interesting

Theres more info here: http://www.curriculumonline.ie/Senior-cycle/Senior-Cycle-Subjects

randylonghorn

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Politics and Society seems to be a brand new subject which looks interesting

Theres more info here: http://www.curriculumonline.ie/Senior-cycle/Senior-Cycle-Subjects

It's been fully developed and sitting on a shelf for several years now, but has never been introduced (unless something happened recently which slipped by me) due to lack of resources (read, at base, money).

Very hard to argue for introducing a new subject when resources for existing subjects are hard to find / being cut back.

Unfortunately, it was just about finalised when the poop hit the fan at the end of the Diseased Celtic Kitten era.

evolving_doors

I think politics and society is being piloted in schools this year!

randylonghorn

Oh excellent, I hadn't heard that!

TheWexfordWolf

I would strongly advise avoiding economics at all costs. I see you havent mentioned accounting which is renowned for being a high A rate subject. it is fairly time consuming per question (min 45 mins for a proper question) but really is the dark horse of all points accumulators. People dismiss it too easily but the majority of the questions are similar and it might count for something on your CV that you understand basic accounting principles.

TL,dr; **** economics, do accounting

daraghwal

If your good at science and have access to a farm agricultural science might be good. There is a project in it but you could probably do well if you like sciences, have access to a farm and do a few grinds. The biology will overlap with it A LOT. If not Geography could be an option?

spurious

Gebgbegb wrote:

I think politics and society is being piloted in schools this year!

I think it has already been piloted. I read somewhere (of course i cannot remember where) it is for exam June 2018.

Stearinlys

spurious wrote: »

I think it has already been piloted. I read somewhere (of course i cannot remember where) it is for exam June 2018.

Yeah the first exam will be in 2018. My school is running it this year and they taught a bit of it to the TYs last year I think

reason vs religion

Stearinlys wrote: »

...they taught a bit of it to the TYs last year I think

...which, I understand, is not strictly allowed!

Bazinga_N

reason vs religion wrote: »

...which, I understand, is not strictly allowed!

TYs the perfect place to give students an intro to Leaving Cert subjects so they can see if they'd actually like to do the subject in 5th and 6th year though. I'm sure that's allowed.

rainbowtrout

randylonghorn wrote: »

It's been fully developed and sitting on a shelf for several years now, but has never been introduced (unless something happened recently which slipped by me) due to lack of resources (read, at base, money).

Very hard to argue for introducing a new subject when resources for existing subjects are hard to find / being cut back.

Unfortunately, it was just about finalised when the poop hit the fan at the end of the Diseased Celtic Kitten era.

It's being piloted in schools this year with first exam to take place in June 2018.

reason vs religion

Bazinga_N wrote: »

TYs the perfect place to give students an intro to Leaving Cert subjects so they can see if they'd actually like to do the subject in 5th and 6th year though. I'm sure that's allowed.

From a DoE document: "A Transition Year programme is NOT part of the Leaving Certificate programme, and should NOT be seen as an opportunity for spending three years rather than two studying Leaving Certificate material." There should be "a clear distinction between the Transition Year programme and the corresponding Leaving Certificate syllabus."

Doesn't prevent the school from giving a taster in politics and social subjects. There's certainly ambiguity and I think a lot of schools probably take full advantage of that.

randylonghorn

While you're quite right re: TY vs. LC years, I doubt the Department, or indeed parents or students, would object too strongly to schools giving students a taster of a brand new subject which has never been offered before and which they know nothing about.

Plus many schools would already have used TY (with DES approval and encouragement) to give students some input in this area before there was an opportunity to offer or assess it formally at LC level.

reason vs religion

randylonghorn wrote: »

While you're quite right re: TY vs. LC years, I doubt the Department, or indeed parents or students, would object too strongly to schools giving students a taster of a brand new subject which has never been offered before and which they know nothing about.

Plus many schools would already have used TY (with DES approval and encouragement) to give students some input in this area before there was an opportunity to offer or assess it formally at LC level.

I don't especially care. Was only lightheartedly ribbing with my original post. But I would say that TY is a year to experiment with curriculums and teaching methods. Too few schools do that to any great extent, and an over-emphasis on modelling subjects based on LC equivanelts is probably partly to blame.

spurious

It's not allowed at all.
Of course, there are always some schools whose management use TY as a first year of a 3 year LC. You always get people who try to chea play the system.

Stearinlys

reason vs religion wrote: »

From a DoE document: "A Transition Year programme is NOT part of the Leaving Certificate programme, and should NOT be seen as an opportunity for spending three years rather than two studying Leaving Certificate material." There should be "a clear distinction between the Transition Year programme and the corresponding Leaving Certificate syllabus."

Doesn't prevent the school from giving a taster in politics and social subjects. There's certainly ambiguity and I think a lot of schools probably take full advantage of that.

Yeah that's what I meant. They didn't teach the TYs a lot of the subject, they just gave them a little taste to help them decide on whether they wanted to do the subject for leaving cert