Maths Paper 2
David
Higher Level
Lucan Community College
This paper was a lot more accessible than a normal year. I have been practicing paper 2s over the weekend and was scared of it in general. When I opened this paper and saw the amount of probability questions, I was delighted. I felt more adjusted to the choice in the paper this time which means I didn’t waste any time figuring out what to do. I instantly realised that I didn’t feel comfortable with the proofs and theorems. From section 1, I completed 4 questions and didn’t do any addition because of this.
For section 2, again, similar to in paper 1 I found the questions to be quite similar to one another. There were 2 main probability and statistics questions and 2 trigonometry questions. It gave choice for the different sections of each chapter which was quite nice and the choice didn’t cause any extra stress.
Overall, this was a very nice paper in my opinion compared to previous years. A lot of people that I spoke to were extremely happy with how they did. I feel that the paper really catered for everyone in terms of having options open to all aspects of the course.
Jane
Higher Level
St. Mary’s Secondary School, Wexford
…. and with that, we never have to think about trigonometry again!
The nerves kicked in before Maths again today - this time, I woke up at 5 A.M. and couldn’t go back to sleep, statistics formulae and trigonometry proofs dancing in my mind. However, as usual I settled down when I put pen to paper at 9:30, as panicked as I may have been, only minutes earlier!
The trend of overly tricky Section A questions continued from Paper 1, but I think I scraped my way through them relatively unharmed. I really enjoyed Q.2 on coordinate geometry, but I found the Area & Volume question quite tricky, as was the circle question. Like most students, I avoided Q.6 like the plague - I can deal with one proof, but 2 in the one question?! Not a chance, SEC.
While the long questions posed more of a challenge in terms of answer development, I feel like they were slightly easier to work with and I think I got on reasonably well with them. Q.7 on trigonometry was really nice for the most part, and hopefully I’ll have done ok in either Q.8 or Q.9 as well. Q.10 looked utterly unapproachable to me, though, so I stayed away - probability is far from one of my strong points!
Overall, while the paper was definitely more challenging than Paper 1 last Friday, it was navigable and I think everyone will have done well.
Irish Paper 1
Tammy
Higher Level
St. Augustine’s College
I have to say I’m pretty happy with Irish P1! I had an awful morning with maths p2, and so a lot of time I had between the exams was spent worrying about maths instead of fine tuning my Irish, which I was worried would affect me, thankfully all went well!
The listening comprehension, worth 60 marks, is always the section I do worst, but I really think that this one went very well. The speakers seemed very clear and I managed to understand a good bit of what they were actually saying!
Finally I got onto the written section, the dreaded aistes! In the middle of my maths worries, I had a good look over the díospoireacht layout, and I was so thankful to see a díospoireacht pop up that I enjoyed : Tá rialtas éifeachtach againn sa tír seo faoi láthair.
I felt very relaxed through writing my debate, I had plenty of time to really think about what my next words were going to be, and made sure to use plenty of nathannas! Overall I found it a very fair paper, and I hope that paper 2 is equally as fair!
Jane
Higher Level
St. Mary’s Secondary School, Wexford
If there was ever a paper that struck fear into the hearts of Irish teenagers, it’s unquestionably Irish Paper 1. Admittedly only two hours and twenty minutes, in that time you’re expected to comprehend the intricacies of the various dialects in the Cluastuiscint, before tackling the terror-inducing Ceapadóireacht.
That’s why I’m absolutely delighted to have made it through today safely! I think I did even better in the Cluastuiscint than normal, an inexplicable feat which can only be explained by saying that the recordings are luck of the draw, year-by-year.
Moving onto the Ceapadóireacht, I was incredibly nervous before reading the titles. I knew I’d be doing either the Aiste or the Dióspóireacht/Óráid, so ideally I could have had the choice of 7 topics to work with. I was over the moon, then, when I saw the fantastic options available to me.The ever-popular “Saol an Duine Óig” made an appearance, as did the expected one on “Gaeilge agus cultúr Gaelach”.
I chose the debate on the efficiency of the Irish government, and I’m really happy with how it went. There was definitely an option for everybody on that paper - I didn’t see a single unhappy face post-exam.
I’m delighted to have got that day over with, as sitting exams in both Maths & Irish isn’t many’s idea of a good time. I just hope Paper 2 goes as well tomorrow morning!
Maths Paper 1
David
Higher Level
Lucan Community College
Maths paper 1 is over now and what a relief. I was surprised by the paper having so many functions and calculus questions. That was the main takeaway from people I was talking to after the exam. Nearly all of section 2 in the exam were functions and calculus which almost took away the illusion of choice for us.
Opening section 1 was quite intimidating as the questions did seem to be more difficult than usual. We only had to do 4 questions out of the 6 in that section but in my opinion the choice made the exam more difficult. I was sitting there spending my time on whether I should do a complex numbers question or the sequences and series instead of actually doing the questions.
In the end I actually found section 2 of the exam to be easier as the answers linked to one another which gave me clues that I was on the right track. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to this part of the exam.
Overall, I am really happy with the paper this year and I am looking forward to paper 2 now that I understand how to tackle choosing the best questions to do for me!
Jane
Higher Level
St. Mary’s Secondary School, Wexford
We’ve made it to the weekend!
That paper was definitely a lot more doable than I was anticipating. Maths is far from my strong point, so I was extremely nervous in the run-up (one highlight of my preparation was a nightmare last night in which I was told I received a grade of “NG”).
As usual, algebra and complex numbers appeared as relatively straightforward short questions. Area & volume was a surprise twist, but the predicted question on proof by induction was doubtless welcomed.
Even though it suited me, as we never covered the topic, I was surprised when financial maths didn’t appear as normal as a long question. While I imagine it’ll make an appearance on Paper 2 to compensate, it’s been a Paper 1 certainty for years and was definitely unexpected.
The abundance of calculus on the paper was also interesting, but I feel that the questions were generally accessible. Q.8 - the long question on the rollercoaster - was great, and Q.9 was relatively manageable as well.
Overall, I liked the paper. The changes meant we had to answer a reduced number of questions, and this meant we could play to our strengths insofar as possible.
Geography
Matthew
Higher Level
Piper’s Hill College, Kildare
It would be fair to say that every Geography student sitting the paper today let out a massive sigh of relief as soon as we opened the paper. All our predictions, our last minute-studying, our desperate prayers were answered at 9:30 am this morning!
The changes to the exam meant that Geography students could potentially leave out half of the course, answering just three questions from four sections (two questions being able to be answered from the same section). For me, I focused on Regional Geography and the Higher Level option - Culture and Identity, as well as the mandatory short questions.
The short questions were quite nice and fair, covering various topics like weather maps, graph interpretations and plate tectonics. Glaciation didn't feature too heavily in the short questions - a topic I had learned off 3 minutes before the exam.
Both the Regional and Option sections were similarly fair. I answered Q4 and Q6 from Regional and Q20 from the Option, and was quite happy with all my answers. Overall, I think Geography went very well, and was definitely a big confidence booster for the days ahead!
English Paper 2
Eva
Higher Level
Ursuline Secondary School, Blackrock
Akeno
Higher Level
Coláiste an Chroí Naofa
What a day, to put it simply. I won't lie, I almost missed my exam today! My mother and I thought the exam started at 14h30, but in reality, it started at 14h00! By pure coincidence, I checked the schedule at 13h53… My jaw dropped. I shouted downstairs, and we were in the car at 13h54. Luckily, I arrived only one minute late. Thankfully, my supervisor shared the same look of relief that was plastered on my face. I'm writing this blog post almost five hours later, and it is still sinking in that I almost missed my second English exam.
Besides all of that excitement, I was relieved when I saw Heaney, Plath, and Durcan in the Poetry section. I studied all three of these poets, so I was spoiled for choice! I quite liked the unseen poem, How to Construct an Albatross, by Louise Grieg. I thought it was an easy and enjoyable poem to answer questions on. I didn't do any Comparative Study questions but I did have a brief look through the cultural context part. The questions seemed quite doable and I was pleased with the great amount of choice. For the Single Text section, I answered a question regarding the Shakespearean tragedy, King Lear. Both of the questions were beyond manageable. One prompt was about the chaos of the play, but I answered a significantly different question. The question I answered consisted of a hypothetical situation where the Fool and Kent were emitted from the drama. This question caught my attention immediately, and I was delighted to ponder it.
Despite the whirlwind of today, English Paper 2 went well. I think I got lucky with my choice of poets. I hope I'll be lucky for the rest of the Leaving Cert!
Eiman
Higher Level
Scoil Mhuire Community School
English exam is done and overall I’m quite happy. I chose to answer the Single Text on King Lear and Poetry. I think a lot of students would have been put off with the King Lear question asking to discuss the significance of Kent and the Fool. I had prepared a question on it as a similar question came up a few years ago also asking about the significance of two minor characters in Hamlet. So I found it quite doable and was able to use quotes I learnt off.
For poetry, I was lucky that 4 out of 4 of my studied poets came up. All the Irish poets were my personal favourites and I opted for the Boland question to discuss narrative elements of her work to discuss a variety of themes. I find it hard to tell whether I’m being purposeful in my answer compared to King Lear essays so I can’t be too sure how I got on in the studied poetry section. However, I think the question was quite broad and straightforward compared to last year’s Boland question.
For unseen poetry, I normally never understand what the poem is about and the same can be said for this one titled “How to Construct an Albatross” by Louise Greig. I do think my waffling skills came in handy to conjure up an abstract response to the poem.
Very glad my first subject is out of the way and happy that I liked both papers. I think I’m slightly more worried about Maths tomorrow!
Engineering
Saskia
Higher Level
St. Clare’s College, Co. Cavan
I won’t lie, I wasn’t happy with the exam at all, I did my best and answered an extra question to be safe but I have to say I’m glad it’s over now. The special topic was an interesting one this year and I answered that question but the exam as a whole was awful, some questions made no sense at all. I’m glad I sat the exam but I’m also glad it’s over now.
English Paper 1
Eiman
Higher Level
Scoil Mhuire Clane
The first exam can make or break the confidence of a student for the rest of their exams so I’m glad my English paper 1 went well. I answered Text 3 Q.A for section 1. I found the first part to be quite typical. However, the wording of the question put me off but I think I managed nonetheless.
Part two was also something I suspected would come up as it has in recent years; a question that isn’t related to the text and more of your opinion on a more general issue. I was able to talk about how purpose allows me to have goals and dreams and has led me to meet like minded people to share the same purpose as me. Did it entirely answer the question? Probably not lol.
Part three was a typical style question on the language of persuasion and I found the speech to be filled with examples of the language style. So overall, no surprises in section 1 which is always nice.
For the composing task I was banking on the personal essay. I read the first question about birthdays and their significance and released a sigh of relief. I found I had a lot to talk about and filled 6 pages.
Overall, a nice paper, bring on paper 2!
Eva
Higher Level
Ursuline Blackrock
Akeno
Higher Level
Coláiste an Chroí Naofa
Day one is done, and what a relief! This year's paper was a wee bit different than usual. I felt relieved knowing that I only had to answer one question from Section 1. Section 1 had three very engaging texts; I was honestly amazed by the range of topics addressed. The overall theme of the texts seemed to be time. Text 2 discussed bees, and I did Question B, an open letter about animal rights.
Admittedly, I did not read Text 1, but apparently, it was about trains. A short story in Section 2 related to trains, too, if I had realised it at the time, I could have written a revised version of the infamous Cáca Milis! For the first time ever, we were given a chance to write a fairytale in Section 2. This was a surprising and refreshing addition to the paper. Three personal essays, a fable, a speech, a short story and a discursive essay: these were the seven options that covered a broad range of issues. I chose the speech question, which was to speak against stereotypes. The prompt originated from Text 3, an extract from a speech by the late Chadwick Boseman. Today was a marvellous start to the Leaving Cert and a remarkable confidence booster. I am excited to see what other surprises appear on the exams.