Leaving Certificate History
Lorraine - Higher Level
Well I'm just out of History and thank god! First of all I have to say I think it's crazy only giving us an hour break between French and History. I really think that could be time tabled better. I was so determined to do well in French this morning that I kind of neglected History a little bit last night! I was really apprehensive and thepanic stations did set in after French. I was trying to just recap everything going through all the notes I had made out..so so many notes! The history course is a huge course and I really am glad that there is a project in it!When I got the paper I saw the Document question was on the Eucharistic Congress, not what everyone had thought but still quite a nice question. I took a flick through the paper and panicked a little bit at the Dictatorship questions but made myself do the document question just to calm down. When I finished them I decided to start with the American topic because I saw the Montgomery bus boycott and I was delighted. I figure if I can get everything I know out of the way first in exam I give myself time to search around in my brain bits of what I know about the ones I'm panicking about (weird I know :P). When I finished that I went back to the Dictatorship and Democracy question and realised in my mind I had definitely imagined a question that wasn't there! After rereading them I was delighted to see propaganda and terror in Russia and/or Mussolini. I was like BOOM! In the exam although I have to admit I would have loved a nice chunky propaganda question on Germany but sure look it. When I finished that I went to the Irish topic- my most hated topic by far. I really hadn't prepared as well as I could have for this I had learned bits on everyone but nothing solid completely my own fault! I did the question on Lemass and T.K Whitaker.I only squeezed out 3 pages on it but I can say its completely my own fault and in my sleep deprived state I was proud to even get 3 pages out! Its weird to say I'm finished History now! I only have Economics left which is next Wednesday so I have an entire week - thank god because I have completely neglected it!! :)
Isabelle - Higher Level
I think the majority of the country went into today's history exam expecting the treaty negotiations, but I have never been a fan and so was praying for the Eucharistic Congress. Not only did it come up but it came up with the same context question I have answered at least 4 times before!I was really happy that the Montgomery bus boycott came up, and even happier that it didn't even ask for anything else about the civil rights movement! Both The bus boycott and Hitlers foreign policy came up in my mocks and I did quite well in them so I was over the moon to see them again! Northern Ireland has always been my tricky section, so I was quite nervous, however one of the essays that came up was easy enough to fit both my welfare state and Brookeborough and O'Neill essay into!Overall I couldn't have hoped for a better paper, I hope you all felt the same about it too! Thank god its over!!Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Junior Certificate French
Jane - Higher Level
I was 4 and half hours into my history cram session this morning when I looked up at my exam timetable and realized, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, that it was French in the morning and history in the evening.I really did my best to look over my letter vocab as efficiently as I could, and because I thought I had two hours of a break before hand, I didn't get a chance to look at any other vocab. I went into the exam pretty stressed because of all this. While I have no great love for the language, I do have a great love of my French teacher, she's such a fab woman and I really really didn't want to let her down. The only reason I do well in French is because I want to get good grades and I confess, part of that is so she'll be happy with me.So anyway, I sit right next to the tape in my exam centre and the 2015 JC French listening comprehension comes on. It's not so bad. I understood the majority of the French, and think I got most answers right, save for maybe one or two. Next was the reading. Again, I liked it, it was easy enough, although I did have the heartbreaking feeling of; I should know this. Then the French note came up. Ugh. I would have preferred a postcard because my note dragged me down a bit in my pre. I thought the letter was grand. I could apply the paragraphs I'd learnt to it. Though the question part where they asked "ask her if she will work for the summer" was hard, I just kind of winged it. Most of the French candidates had left the building by the time it was 12 o'clock, but I never leave early, it's just against my beliefs! I think if you get 2 and a half hours for an exam, you should use them and so I did, and had to ask for extra paper to finish my letter.I'm pretty disappointed coming out of JC French. I feel the work I had done in the past three years, the hundreds of words I had learnt off as vocab, the studying for my letters, hadn't been shown. At the end of the exam, I sat there thinking how much I would have loved to have done continuous assessment for my Junior Cert French. Quel Dommage!
Art - Higher Level
Beginning with the aural, I was surprised how long it took, in comparison to Irish. Forty minutes! Anyway, I thought part A, B and C of this were pretty manageable if I remember correctly, with the exception here and there. Part D was pretty tough I thought. Part E was alright again. Unbelievably, we were informed of the mistake at the end! Overall, I thought the listening was a bit harder than I expected and might have brought my overall grade a bit down.I then did the writing questions to regain a bit of self esteem. I found the letter to be very good and was delighted the holiday in the summer appeared. I used as many useful phrases as possible. The note was manageable too if my memory serves me right. I thought these questions went well.The reading comprehensions were a bit of a mixed bag. Mostly, I thought they were good but I have to say I dropped a few marks here and there. I was a bit surprised I could understand the later ones as well as I did, because I'm usually poor there. Though I can't really be certain how well I did. Overall I was happy with how French went, and I just want to leave it at the back of my mind for the summer.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Junior Certificate History
Jane - Higher Level
This was the exam that I had procrastinated until 24 hours before hand, where I decided to seriously knuckle down and you couldn't tear me away from my history book! I started with questions 4, 5 and 6. If I could ever give someone golden advice, it would be to do this in your JC History exam! People in history though, how weird. Can someone tell me why they couldn't have used a manor rather than a castle? I winged it big time. George Washington I was pretty okay with, I'd revised this one. I was disappointed D Day or Cold war didn't come up though!I could almost feel everyone freaking out around me for Part C of Q5. I did too at the start. How dare they use explorations! Once I got in to it it was grand. I just did P)B and used my own general knowledge about the British Empire. Hopefully my examiner will be impressed that I knew so much about the British economy haha. On to Question 6. well Part a was grand, kind of winged the accounts but they were okay. Very surprised with P6. They didn't us the option of the blockade! If I hadn't studied the entire cold war the night before I would have been snookered!The rest of the paper after this was pretty easy,as it always is.I regret leaving my study so late and hope this does not affect my grade! Certainty it has taken an effect on my mental health and sleep patterns though and I deeply regret that I let that happen.
Art - Higher Level
For some reason or another, maybe because it gives me a bit of confidence, I like to start with the short questions in history. To be safe, I answered around 14 to assure full marks. Then onto the pictures question. I wasn't very confident on what Picture A was, but I wrote something down. The black death and Mary Robinson were both pretty easy then, I thought. The Documents questions didn't seem to be too challenging. It's really just a matter of getting the answer from the source for the most part. I found it interesting however. If I'm honest, I think I spent a bit too long on the beginning of the paper. For any 2nd years reading, don't spend much over a half an hour and all of these.Then onto the more important ones. I decided to begin with the Long Questions on Q6 because I was most confident here. I did international developments in the 20th century and the Irish history one. Overall, I was pretty happy with both. I'm worried I wrote a bit too much in places though. One or two of the small questions on Ireland were a bit harden than usual. I then did Q5, the source questions on the age of exploration. For the most part, I was pretty happy with all of these. Finally, I left little time for Q4. I wrote up a good answer on George Washington I thought but Michelangelo was a little bare as the clock beat me.Overall, I thought it was a bit trickier than most years. I think I may have gotten a high B, but I doubt I got the A, which I'm sickened over as I love history!Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Leaving Certificate French
Rob - Higher Level
I know for some people this was their last exam, while for me it was my fifth last. I'm not sure whether I'd prefer to be finished my Leaving Cert now, or whether I like having more time to study between subjects.It was strange starting a French exam with the comprehension, for the past 6 years we have always done the listening test first. Both of the texts were straight forward enough I found, especially with the final questions in English. The multi choice questions, however, weren't as obvious as in previous years. Asking about the meaning of a paragraph, I could find two options in one of the texts.I moved onto the written comprehensions and did the first option in question 1 as I cannot for my life write stories. I had revised certain topics the night before, trying to stay topical with topics such as healthcare (Ebola), politics (the referendum) and terrorism (Charlie Hebdo) being my focus, as well as drugs and technology. I was quite happy with the options that came up, especially with the final option on Voting at 16, something ISSU is working towards! I had done my document on Malala Yousafzai and youth politics, so this was really handy for this essay.The listening comprehension started well for me, however on the last section (maybe because it is only played twice) I missed two answers completely, which is annoying. French was okay this year, I have heard easier listening comprehensions but I'm happy with how the topics fell for both the written task and comprehensions (even the one about the wolves!). Now on to German!
Joanna - Higher Level
Getting out of bed was tough, but once I got to school, looked over notes and settled down in the exam hall, it felt grand. I always do the composing section first and quickly write out all the phrases and vocab I had been revising before the exam so I wouldn't stress and pause for too long when writing. It really helped when developing points on the different topics, and I found the choice really good this year. I chose to do a diary entry about a new school uniform, an opinion piece on homelessness and a piece about mobile phone addiction. The comprehensions were okay, although I found the first one a bit more challenging than usual. The second required some manipulation in the answers, and it was really odd (about a couple who had werewolf neighbours) but I got on okay. I was delighted that the last parts (where you answer in English ) were easy enough as well.Having read over my exam paper twice, I was still finished early enough so I went to get some air before the listening exam began. I was delighted that we could have a look at the paper for five minutes before the exam started (if only we could have done the same for the Irish tape test) and everything looked okay. The listening tests is one of my favourite parts of the French exam, so I got on grand.Overall I found this years paper really manageable and although quite a lot of my friends dropped down to ordinary level on the day, the ones who stuck with the higher seemed to get on well too so I'm really happy about that.
Lorraine - Higher Level
Well that's my third long day done and dusted thank god!! Ill start off with French! I went in at half 8 this morning to go over some last minute verbs stuff from the comprehensions with my teacher and I have to say I was glad I did because it was actually useful in the exam! I thought it was a really lovely paper although the comprehension (second one) was just a bit weird about neighbours being wolves!! I didn't have a problem with either comprehension thank god and then I went to the questions!The journal in time was actually a really nice question about your school bringing in a new uniform and your refusing to wear it that was fairly nice. The questions themselves were also lovely! I had been trying to predict topics and had it wittled down to water charges, ebola, emigration, unemployment, racism, terrorism, voting, gay marriage, role of women in the home, the points system, pocket money and obesity with sport..very wittled down. I was delighted to see the question on voting at 16 and the question on pocket money was lovely too! Oh and the first compulsory question I did was on how to solve he problem with homelessness which I was also really happy with.I got 40% in my premocks in French and 61% in my mocks in French and I can honestly say I worked my ass off at French since Christmas. I truly felt today that it paid off. I will actually miss speaking and studying French a lot. All in all, a lovely paper!! :)Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Leaving Certificate Biology
Lorraine - Higher Level
Hi all! :) Well I'm just out of Biology and I have to admit I am fairly disappointed. As someone who has never been mad on Biology but gotten good grades after the mocks I really kicked myself even though I got a B and I attackedBiology properly. I did every exam paper, repeatedly went through on line videos, wrote out notes and flashcards and really tried to drill it into my head but that exam was awful. First of all, I didn't even know where to start with the short questions!! The last one, Q6, was literally 2 definitions that I have never seen before! I made a stab at them but I know my answers were wrong. I'm normally a big banker on Section A and Section B to pull me through Biology but today, I was really let down. The section A questions just seemed very different than other years and I was really disappointed.Section B was ok enough, although I completely forgot about the diagrams for fungi reproduction! :P Section C though I can honestly say I found really really hard. I always try and skip genetics because me and the crosses just do not work together but today I actually had to do genetics question because I was lost on the paper.After the exam from talking to everyone else, everyone thinks that we were really unlucky with a really horrible paper. I have to say I'm really disappointed as I had started to enjoy Biology but at this point in time, I'm hoping I at least got a D-C because that was an awful paper!I'm going to go cram some History and French for tomorrow- I think only an hour break betweenthese papers is ridiculous!
Joanna - Higher Level
It was a long paper and although parts got me stuck, thankfully there is always some choice, so I think I did well in it. The time in Biology is not tight at all, so it's grand in terms of taking your time with everything and then reading back over it.I found the first section easy enough. The second one, I answered the questions that were needed and then I did one extra in the last section. The paper seemed a bit different to me than papers in previous years, but maybe its just the sleep deprivation from the last two nights. There was a picture e of a dogs teeth on one page and a reflex arc (my favourite) on another. I don't know, I was so tired going in to the exam, all I can remember is writing answers and then cycling home... Thank god these last two days are over. Two exams per day, twice in a row should not be happening! Well, I'm finally over half way there (7 exams out of 11 done) so I'm delighted that the end of these exams is near :)
Isabelle - Higher Level
Biology has always been one of my better subjects, but due to being overwhelmed and and overtired as well as a lack of preparation my mock result didn't reflect that at all, and so I made sure I was prepared for today! I left Irish a bit early and went to cram as many definitions as I could!I thought the paper couldn't have suited me any better to be honest, everything I had crammed came up and everything I had avoided was avoidable (and also that guy who predicts papers on YouTube got the experiments spot on, shout out to him for saving me today) I came out of the paper feeling pleased that I had done as much as I could have done, and I know I certainly improved on my mock grade!However, the majority of my friends didn't feel this way at all, and I certainly can see how many people came out unhappy! Weird topics came up together (reproductive system with nervous system) and some of the questions were phrased really oddly too! I guess with such a big course it really is the luck of the draw and you can't learn everything, but seeing as so many people found it difficult lets just pray for a nice marking scheme.
Leah - Higher Level
Oh lord. Where to even begin with Biology. After that thrilling and soothing morning with such a beautiful Irish Paper, I will admit that I may have gotten too laid back. Biology brought me right back to the terrors of exams though. I am not even ashamed to admit that I wanted to cry over the paper.My entire paper was nothing less than a train wreck; partially because of the paper and partially because Biology is my worst subject. The Paper made me feel like I had done no study all year - not effective study anyway. The only consolation in that entire question were the Ecology sections. Apart from that though, I spent at least an hour and a half of the three hour long exam staring at the blanks on my paper. I feel like Irish Paper II worked against us to trick us into a sense of false security and then Biology showed up and shot us all with gamma rays or something. I was even contemplating on whether to take an Ordinary Level exam or not. Maybe I should have.All in all - Biology was a bit of muck. 0/10, would not recommend. It's all over now though. Now I get the sweet bliss of 9 days exam-free, until the 19th where I will have Religion and Japanese. I will of course be back here then to let you all know how they went but, until then, I wish you luck. Catch you on the (almost) flip side.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Junior Certificate Business
Art - Higher Level
Business Paper One: Beginning with the short questions; overall they didn't seem to be too challenging. Common sense and a hint of good memory would get you through I thought. For those trying to avoid accounting, there was no chance in section one! A nice bit of explaining was needed too but honestly they were pretty nice to us.On to section two (long questions). I gave myself two hours to do these and lads, believe me I needed it. I began with the household budget (Q1) which seemed a bit shorter and easier than usual. More of your own calculations were needed however than reading straight from the paper. This was followed up with some general questions on budgeting. Not too bad I thought. Then I moved onto Q3, all about the national budget and expenditure. This was very doable I thought. A simple T shaped account, a bar chart and a few explanations were needed for the 40 marks. On to the consumer question. This required a firm knowledge on insurance which fortunately I was ok with having studied it the previous night. Consumer rights seeped in there too if I'm not mistaken. Finally, I went on and did question 6 on People at Work. This was all about explaining terms, the content of CV's and trade unions. A fairly handy question.Overall I was really happy with paper one, though I may have lost a few easy marks here and there. A fair paper nonetheless.Business Paper Two: For some reason or another, maybe all this warm weather I went into paper two feeling like I was fit to sleep for a week. However, I pulled myself together and at two o'clock went straight down to business (pardon the pun). I was most confident with the final accounts question and immediately submerged myself into the figures and thank God had a balancing balance sheet within a half an hour. Then we had to explain carriage inwards, which seemed pretty easy. I then went at the report writing/business insurance question which seemed to be a bit too similar to another long question on paper one. Anyway, three quarters of the marks for that were writing up a report on suggested insurance which wasn't overly challenging. Though I went slightly blank when it came to explaining one or two of the five principles. The final ten marks were for explaining adequate insurance and a simple calculation of compensation.I then tackled the chains of production question. I thought this was tricky in parts as I hadn't covered it in a while. This was my poorest question overall. However I persevered and jotted down as much as I could. Hopefully I'll pick up a good few of the marks. Maybe it was my choice of questions or the relaxed attitude of males but at half three when I was going onto my final question I found many of my classmates were wrapping up entirely. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign! Anyway, I concluded with the cash flow forecast which I was so relieved worked out perfectly, as one figure throws everything out and you're often left painting the page in tippex. A couple of unusual questions followed this up and I'm not certain if I explained them correctly as we were only given one line to. I'll try not to overthink it.Overall, paper two seemed pretty good. A bit harder than paper one. Hopefully between the two I can pull in an A or high B, with the help of God!Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.