Leaving Certificate Chemistry

Joanna - Higher Level

I don't want to say cram, but I definitely did some intense revision this morning. It felt good, got a lot of higher level experiments refreshed and definitions that I knew but just needed to go over. I always get this good feeling going into chemistry exams and then I open the paper, realise that I can only do like 4 questions (we need to do at least 8) and then panic sets in. This afternoon, I decided not to look at the whole paper until I had the 3 experiment questions done to reduce the possible panic.Well, the experiments were predictable. Sodium thiosulfate titration, the new experiment on the course and water. Grand. I found question 4 really nice and loved question 5 which is always kinda about the history of chemistry and Bohrs atomic theory. I can't remember all the topics, but as I flicked through the rest of the paper and realised I could make a reasonable attempt at a total of 9 questions, I was chuffed.I went on, skipping the organic chemistry which I didn't like and I found the options in questions 10 and 11 really manageable, especially the atmospheric chemistry question which I was a little nervous about.Overall, I know I didn't ace this paper, but I don't need chemistry for points or as an entry requirement, so I'm looking for an alright pass in it. After today, I feel I will be happy enough with whatever comes out in August, so fingers crossed! :)

Dáire - Higher Level

I spent all morning revising, or at least attempting to revise. My concentration was broken by the thoughts of the post leaving cert celebrations. I got to revise a few key topics.The paper was rough enough. I wasn't really prepared very well for the experiments that came up, and the rest of the paper was dodgy enough to be honest. I had been anticipating an A2, but given how that exam went, I'll be lucky to scrape a B, I think.That being said, there were simple parts to every question that I enjoyed, but there were other parts that were rotten. I attempted every question out of desperation, I didn't feel comfortable doing just the bare minimum because I wasn't sure of any of them.Obviously I am delighted to be finished, but my happiness is kind of hindered by how badly the exam went. I'm looking forward to getting my results in August, and I hope that the exams went better than I feel they did, especially chemistry. As one of my 'strongest' subjects, I'm bitterly disappointed with it.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Certificate Accounting

Rob - Higher Level

If there is a way to NOT do a Leaving Certificate exam, I did it today. I was revising theory up until twenty minutes before my exam and on reaching my exam centre I saw a big group of third years clutching T-squares. Presuming they were now using our exam centre, I moved down to the other sixth year centre and sat down with my classmates. The paper and exam booklets were handed out, I skimmed through the pages and was happy enough to see the topics I had revised were there. It was then I was called out of the exam centre as I was in the wrong one - 5 minutes into the exam. I raced down the hall with the stationery I had on my table (including a biro running tediously low on blue ink) and then had to restart the exam in this exam centre. Great start Rob!I decided to start myself off on depreciation, a topic I've always liked. This year the question had a few extra parts including having a scrap value of 5%. I took this into account and filled out my table and in my exam state I began to convince myself I was going wrong somewhere. Even though it said to round to decimals, I convinced myself I was going wrong and so abandoned the question.I was now 20 minutes into an alright tight time-wise exam without having a single question done. I ended up racing through the rest of my questions. My cash flow didn't balance and I ended up doing Question 5 (which I usually avoid like the plague).On a more positive note, I was quite happy with my tabular statement and question 9. The theory on all questions was what I had been expecting, so hopefully I've gained marks there.Overall I'm quite disappointed with this exam. I knew the information but on the day I made bad choices and panicked under time constraints. I had been looking for an A1 with Accounting, but right now I'd be happy with a B in any form.2 more exams left, I'm feeling a little disheartened and burned out after all that. Let's hope Chemistry is nice (it never is!) :)

Dáire - Higher Level

The accounting paper was okay. I answered questions 1, 5, 7 and 9.Question 1 was a company final account, I was delighted when I saw it, being the easiest. That being said I still didn't get it to balance, I was a fair bit off. The interpretation of accounts question, question 5, was standard enough. Nothing unusual about the cash budget, question 9, or the incomplete records, question 7.I started with question 9 to build up my confidence because I'm not great at accounting. I like the cash budgets. I then did question 1, I still have never balanced one on my own. I took a good while to do those questions and I put myself under pressure to get the last 2 done in time. Thankfully, I got all the questions answered and hopefully mostly correct.I feel the exam went well, but I would advise for prospective students to set a time plan and follow it. There really isn't much time to spare in the allocated 3 hours. I was flat out until the end, and I was conscious of being the only person in the room for the last hour.I was prepared for everything that came up, which was relieving, to say the least.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Certificate German

Rob - Higher Level

My final language exam! I had prepared what I could going into the exam, revising some vocabulary for each topic. German has a habit of being notoriously difficult to predict, and this year was no different by any means.The first comprehension was surprisingly accessible, describing an old woman who has a dream of flying. Usually this is where I lose marks, however I was quite happy with it. On reading the second comprehension I was surprised to find it harder than the first, I couldn't translate all the vocabulary for the English questions. The grammar question was straightforward enough and a repeat of what we've seen in previous years.I chose the Außerung sum Thema about your friend wanting to be a pop star. I said he should follow his dream but maybe get a part time job too! The follow on questions I linked into what I had learned about engineering for my oral, so I'm happy enough with how I did here.The letter. Where did those topics come from? I found myself borrowing a lot of vocabulary and verbs from the letter itself, especially about the second hand clothing. The SEC really did choose random topics, bringing in a bit of feminism to the sports question and asking which country out of Germany, Austria and Switzerland I'd prefer a language assistant from and why. I have never seen a written paper like that before, and so am not sure how well I did.The listening test was completely different to what I've heard before too. I was shocked to find myself with just 3 answers written down in Section 1 after the second listening. Thankfully the other parts were a bit easier than this one, but overall I'm a little disappointed with the aural.It'll be interesting to see how they vary the marking scheme!Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Junior Certificate Religion

Gearóid - Higher Level

I came into the exam after a long science and a two and a half hour lunch, I wandered into the religion exam hoping for the best. I started with the short questions which I found quite simple. The picture question was the same as usual, and the document was somewhat easier than earlier years.In the long questions, I did the Communities of Faith, Question of Faith, Celebration of Faith, and The Moral Challenge questions. I found I had the ability to complete these. Sadly I didn't realise the time passing and I had spent one hour at these.As the long question worth seventy marks, I had only left fifteen minutes to complete this. I wrote slightly over one page on question one on Northern Ireland which incorporated the two Christian denominations of Catholicism and Protestantism.Overall, I enjoyed this paper, not too different to the past papers, I hope it shows in September.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Certificate Art History and Appreciation

Joanna - Higher Level

When I opened the art paper, I panicked. No Raphael and an Iron Age artefact that I didn't like. To top it off, an art gallery question about a local gallery, so basically the two visits to the national gallery and knowing the Carravagio in there inside out were all worthless! Not to mention the mini biography on Raphael that I had drilled into my head that morning, which felt beyond useless. What now?I took a few deep breaths and looked over the paper again. Okay, the Iron age question had a trick about 'a change' during the iron age, so they were looking to compare Insular La Tene to Ultimate La Tene in relation to the Petrie crown, and although that wasn't my favourite piece of Pre-Christian metalwork, the question itself was actually grand. Then the Renaissance question was about Leonardo da Vinci who I normally skipped during revision because he's more of an ordinary level artist (I was told) which essentially means he's too easy. But now, I could turn that around and use all the fancy words I had prepared for Raphael, like chiaroscurro and contraposto, and just sub them into a nice essay about how talented Leonardo was in relation to his famous 'Madonna of the Rocks' and then a bit about the Mona Lisa. Grand. I can honestly say, it was pretty easy, although the sketches took ages.For the local gallery question I had an epiphany about the time when. During the Polska Eire festival, a Polish artist was displaying his and his friend's work in Raheny library. Perfect! I used the bones of that experience to draft an essay and then fleshed it out with a bit of personal creativity. I have to say, my sketches were not bad at all compared to how badly I usually draw under pressure, so by the end of the two and half hour session I was really happy to seal my paper and hand it up.In the end, there was no need to panic. Now I have four days off before Chemistry and Polish and that's it, woo!Have a good weekend everyone, I'm off to catch up on this weeks sleep :)

Isabelle - Higher Level

I was really tired today after History yesterday, and I didn't get to study last night at all, and so this morning was quite stressful for me! I hadn't really studied properly for art history since before the mocks so it was quite a shock this morning trying to cram everything in! It was touch and go as to whether or not I'd even be able to attempt an answer at a question but luckily Gothic architecture and Early Christian metalwork which were two of the 5 topics I had covered that morning came up (seriously lucky). I always answer the art appreciation on the museum, with an answer learned off about the national gallery and 2 paintings in the European exhibition, but I was extremely disappointed when I saw it asked for a 'local gallery' specifically. However, I was much too tired to attempt to think of a design for a roadside sculpture, so I insisted on making my essay work and discussed how wonderful it is to live in Dublin and have such great museums in my locality's! Hopefully they'll buy it, but even if they don't, it's only 5 marks out of 50 for naming the right gallery according to past marking schemes, and the whole exams only worth 37.5% anyway, so I'm not too worried!Now for a lovely (very necessary) 4 day break until Spanish.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Junior Certificate Science

Gearóid - Higher Level

I walked into the science prepared however I was feeling a little nervous. I started with the biology section. I thought the biology section was like the exam papers I suppose, however I felt question three on the bees and the apple tree was somewhat different but manageable.I went onto chemistry then. The short questions were again not too hard. It seemed that the SEC are trying to be up to date and put a question about water and water treatment on the paper.The physics section went worse than usual. Question 8 on the refraction of light was not easy but I think I got through it. The short questions were good, one or two tripped me up.Overall I did not think the paper was too hard and I hope the marking goes my way.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.