The Leaving Certificate, Leaving Cert Applied (LCA) and Junior Cert began on 6 June. English paper one takes centre stage for senior students, with home economics in the afternoon. For LCAs, English and Communications are first up, with social education afterwards. English is also the first exam for the junior cycle.
The agricultural science exam takes place on Monday, 18 June, with agricultural economics on the penultimate day, 21 June.
Over 55,700 students sat the Leaving Certificate last year (2017), with 7,660 doing agricultural science and 77 sitting the agricultural economics exam. The figures for 2018 will be released next week.
CareerPortal.ie, a career guidance website, gives students advice on how best to prep for exams, as well as what to do when you are in an exam environment.
Below are some tips from students on CareerPortal.ie, who achieved their goals and got the results they wanted.
• Learn from past papers: Get to know how the course is laid out in the exam itself by studying past exam papers. Then put your time into the material that is important in the course. Learn from your examination of past papers how the marks are allocated.• Know in advance how much is expected: Analyse past exam papers. Answer the questions in outline form. Jot down the main ideas and the supporting ideas for your answer. When you have completed the process refer to you own notes. Fill out and change your notes as necessary. This involves testing, recalling and checking where the gaps or mistakes in your knowledge/understanding may be.• Time yourself: Write a complete answer to the question along the lines of your planned outline. Do this against the clock, allowing yourself the time that would be allocated in the exam itself. Don’t use any notes or textbooks during this exercise.• Isolate major topics: Be sure to isolate the major topics in your revision and learn them very well. While going over the contents of your notes, try to anticipate possible examination questions.• Focus on the main points: Keep writing down the main points as you go through your notes. The writing process will fix the information in your mind.• Study plan during the leaving cert: Drawing up a plan for between exams can help maximise your time, which is precious. Include breaks in this. • Take breaks: If possible, take regular breaks in between exams to unwind and refocus. Listen to music or take a walk and get a breath of fresh air. It can make all the difference. • Read instructions: Check the instructions at the beginning of each test paper carefully. There may be a small change in the exam format from year to year.• Read questions: Read each question carefully. Highlight or underline key words and phrases.• Check for compulsory questions: Tick the questions that must be answered in each section. Then tick off the question(s) you are likely to answer (using a different colour or symbol).• Allocate time for each question: This should be done before the exam itself. The amount of time spent on each question will be determined by the percentage of the overall marks going for the question. For example, the time you allow will double if the marks awarded are double those of other questions. Allow at least 5-10 minutes at the start of the test to read over the paper and 10 minutes at the end to read your answers. It’s important that you try to stay within the time you have allocated.• Begin with your best: Begin your exam with the question you feel you can answer best. If you do this you will build confidence in your ability to tackle the remainder of the test.• Plan your answer: Jot down an outline of your answers by noting the main points before you begin to work. It is good to let the examiner see this process.• Avoid clutter: Remember to allow plenty of space between points and sections and label all your answers clearly. Do everything you can to make the job of the examiner easier.• Keep an eye on time: If you run over the allotted time when dealing with a question it may be better to leave a space and continue to the next question. Avoid the disaster of not having time to attempt all the required number of questions.• Don’t waffle: There are simply no marks for repeating the same points or ideas. Be as clear and concise as you can. This does not mean that you don’t explain things fully and give examples, especially when you are expected to elaborate.• Understand typical question formats: Know exactly what is expected from you in an exam when asked to compare, contrast, define, discuss, explain, trace, summarise, describe and outline. Take special note of words such as including, and, or.• No post-mortems: When your exam is over don’t get involved in a detailed post-mortem, turn your focus to the next exam. If you feel stressed or worried about the way things went it’s best to chat with a sympathetic adult, or someone who can listen and offer you a balanced view.• If you have time to spare re-read your work: Don’t stop working on your paper before time is up. There are no extra marks awarded for being finished early. Your exam is designed to be undertaken within the time allocated. If you have time left after you read over your paper, read over it a second time. Ideas may come to you even at the end.• Use notes: It could happen that you discover that you have done something wrong, left a question out or perhaps misread a question. If time is not on your side, lay the correct answer out in note form first. Then elaborate. • Try not to panic: If things are going wrong, remain calm and collected. • Bring a drink: Bring a drink of water into the exam hall to avoid dehydration. CL
The Leaving Certificate, Leaving Cert Applied (LCA) and Junior Cert began on 6 June. English paper one takes centre stage for senior students, with home economics in the afternoon. For LCAs, English and Communications are first up, with social education afterwards. English is also the first exam for the junior cycle.
The agricultural science exam takes place on Monday, 18 June, with agricultural economics on the penultimate day, 21 June.
Over 55,700 students sat the Leaving Certificate last year (2017), with 7,660 doing agricultural science and 77 sitting the agricultural economics exam. The figures for 2018 will be released next week.
CareerPortal.ie, a career guidance website, gives students advice on how best to prep for exams, as well as what to do when you are in an exam environment.
Below are some tips from students on CareerPortal.ie, who achieved their goals and got the results they wanted.
• Learn from past papers: Get to know how the course is laid out in the exam itself by studying past exam papers. Then put your time into the material that is important in the course. Learn from your examination of past papers how the marks are allocated.• Know in advance how much is expected: Analyse past exam papers. Answer the questions in outline form. Jot down the main ideas and the supporting ideas for your answer. When you have completed the process refer to you own notes. Fill out and change your notes as necessary. This involves testing, recalling and checking where the gaps or mistakes in your knowledge/understanding may be.• Time yourself: Write a complete answer to the question along the lines of your planned outline. Do this against the clock, allowing yourself the time that would be allocated in the exam itself. Don’t use any notes or textbooks during this exercise.• Isolate major topics: Be sure to isolate the major topics in your revision and learn them very well. While going over the contents of your notes, try to anticipate possible examination questions.• Focus on the main points: Keep writing down the main points as you go through your notes. The writing process will fix the information in your mind.• Study plan during the leaving cert: Drawing up a plan for between exams can help maximise your time, which is precious. Include breaks in this. • Take breaks: If possible, take regular breaks in between exams to unwind and refocus. Listen to music or take a walk and get a breath of fresh air. It can make all the difference. • Read instructions: Check the instructions at the beginning of each test paper carefully. There may be a small change in the exam format from year to year.• Read questions: Read each question carefully. Highlight or underline key words and phrases.• Check for compulsory questions: Tick the questions that must be answered in each section. Then tick off the question(s) you are likely to answer (using a different colour or symbol).• Allocate time for each question: This should be done before the exam itself. The amount of time spent on each question will be determined by the percentage of the overall marks going for the question. For example, the time you allow will double if the marks awarded are double those of other questions. Allow at least 5-10 minutes at the start of the test to read over the paper and 10 minutes at the end to read your answers. It’s important that you try to stay within the time you have allocated.• Begin with your best: Begin your exam with the question you feel you can answer best. If you do this you will build confidence in your ability to tackle the remainder of the test.• Plan your answer: Jot down an outline of your answers by noting the main points before you begin to work. It is good to let the examiner see this process.• Avoid clutter: Remember to allow plenty of space between points and sections and label all your answers clearly. Do everything you can to make the job of the examiner easier.• Keep an eye on time: If you run over the allotted time when dealing with a question it may be better to leave a space and continue to the next question. Avoid the disaster of not having time to attempt all the required number of questions.• Don’t waffle: There are simply no marks for repeating the same points or ideas. Be as clear and concise as you can. This does not mean that you don’t explain things fully and give examples, especially when you are expected to elaborate.• Understand typical question formats: Know exactly what is expected from you in an exam when asked to compare, contrast, define, discuss, explain, trace, summarise, describe and outline. Take special note of words such as including, and, or.• No post-mortems: When your exam is over don’t get involved in a detailed post-mortem, turn your focus to the next exam. If you feel stressed or worried about the way things went it’s best to chat with a sympathetic adult, or someone who can listen and offer you a balanced view.• If you have time to spare re-read your work: Don’t stop working on your paper before time is up. There are no extra marks awarded for being finished early. Your exam is designed to be undertaken within the time allocated. If you have time left after you read over your paper, read over it a second time. Ideas may come to you even at the end.• Use notes: It could happen that you discover that you have done something wrong, left a question out or perhaps misread a question. If time is not on your side, lay the correct answer out in note form first. Then elaborate. • Try not to panic: If things are going wrong, remain calm and collected. • Bring a drink: Bring a drink of water into the exam hall to avoid dehydration. CL 
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