Leaving Cert English Paper 1
Leah - Higher Level
Hello and good afternoon to the readers of this post! I hope everyone is feeling well on this fine evening and that if you're one of the "lucky" few to be going through exams at the moment, I truly hope that everyone finds the strength to do their best over the next few weeks. I myself have been inflicted with the trials & tribulations that go hand in hand with the thoughts of the Leaving Certificate today.Firstly, however, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Leah and I have never done an official State Examination - until now. As you can imagine, I was extremely nervous at the daunting prospect of my first State Exams to be so significant to my future. But, no pain, no gain - right? These past few months have been a nail biting experience but now, finally, I have made it. Alongside all of my friends and classmates, we have all reached the first day of exams.This morning I arrived at my school fully decked out in my uniform at 8:30. That's an entire hour before my exam was due to begin but I was too full to the brim of nervous energy. After waiting for what seemed like both endless hours and fleeting minutes, my exam centre was opened and slowly but surely, each of my peers poured into the centre. As the clock neared towards 9:30, I decided to make a basic plan of action for my first exam - English Paper I. I decided that my first priority was to get Section II out of the way, seen as it's worth the most marks. Luckily enough, I was blessed with a creative mind from a very young age and so I knew my best shot would be to write a short story. Then, I chose to continue on to part B of Section I and finally, I would finish with the Comprehension. I love it when a plan comes together. With that plan in mind, I felt anxious to get going and, sure enough, 9:30 came and there was a flurry of rustling papers in the exam centre. I kid you not, it sounded like a flock of pigeons taking flight!With my plan of action in mind, I decided to do Question 1 in Section II. The question was focusing on a problem the main character had to go through and then how they had to change throughout the course of the events of short story. For me personally, I decided to write an epilogue-like ending of a book that lead onto a sequel. Each problem my character experienced were in the past and yet, they still had many more to overcome. I was incredibly lucky that my hours in bed, where I was trying to sleep last night but instead thinking of intricate plot lines had not gone to waste.As soon as I had written over four pages for my tale, I decided it was time for me to move onto the next thing. For my Question B of Section I, I chose to do Question B from Text 1. It suited me down to the ground as it was about writing a letter to the Principal of the School on behalf of the Student Council in order to reason with the Principal and their choice to get rid of a Graduation Ceremony for the students graduating in 2015. Now, as many of my close friends know, this was a question close to my heart, as I have written a letter to my school's Principal in the past and it sounded like something the Principal may have threatened to do in the past. Therefore, this Question B suited me down to the ground and I used my own past experiences of being on the Student Council to help me make it more reasonable and relatable. I was not surprised either when I learned my friend and current Chairperson of the Student Council did likewise. We had a right old laugh about that afterwards as we both had a good idea of what each of us had specifically written. It's always nice to leave your exam centre in chortles of laughter.Finally, I finished off my exam with the Comprehension. I immediately rushed to start reading Text 2 as I realised I was short on time and I finished off answering the questions in the nick of time. It turned out that I actually quite enjoyed answering on Text 2 because I love to read anything scary and I thought it was a unique moment where I could understand the thought process. Was it just me that found the first book cover image scarier than the first and the second more childlike for part (iii)?All in all, for my first "proper" exams they haven't gone too bad so far. Dare I even say it, I found Paper I fun? The topics intrigued me and even inspired me. It was a somewhat nice paper to get on the first day too. Here's hoping that Paper II will run just as smoothly and that Ní Chuilleanáin and Montague will come up on the Poetry Section! Well done to everyone who got over the first hurdle too; we're well on our way to enjoying the long summer!
Rob - Higher Level
We sat down way too early for English paper 1, the feeling of anxiety and expectation growing as the clock reached 9:30. On turning the paper over, I read the Question Bs and the essay titles.I had been hoping for an article or a speech and though the titles were okay, nothing really stood out for me. Reading through the Question As I liked Text 1, a speech by Bono at the University of Pennsylvania, I decided to go with Question B from text 3, an introduction to a book about the importance of old people.I found both the Questions A and B that I answered to be very doable. While I haven't written an introduction before in an exam, the topic was not too difficult. I enjoyed Bono's speech, as an exam text it worked well and as a speech it was very inspiring and engaging. I am not as happy about the composing part of the paper. I enjoy writing short stories, while the speech at a UN youth event jumped out at me. I decided to go with the second short story, involving a "gradual reveal of a big secret". Midway through my essay I realised I hadn't been developing the story and it was looking like a personal essay. I tried to rectify this, but ran out of time on my final paragraph. I also found the "gradual" part of this story to be challenging. It would have been much easier to just describe one big reveal in a climactic manner.Overall, I feel okay about Paper 1. It was fair. I most definitely wasn't delighted with it but it was approachable and interesting. Now the panic and cramming can begin for Paper 2, something I think Paper 1 had been shielding. Come on Montague!
Lorraine - Higher Level
Well, That's English Paper 1 down! I have to say I wasn’t nervous at all this morning or to be honest, at all this year! Paper 1 is generally a nice paper to start with because there isn’t an awful lot you can do for it!I got into the school this morning and I was greeted by lots of very nervous students. I went into my exam room and signed the roll book and boom I was ready! When we got the exam I straight away glanced at the Compositions and I couldn't help but smile- I had a story that I could tweak into the first title. Relieved, I went back to the Section A. The theme was Challenges which I was happy with because I was worried it would be equality which can be difficult. The first comprehension was about Bono and the second B part was writing a letter to your principal about him not allowing CLASS of 2015 to have a graduation ceremony. I chose this as my B first because the others looked fairly difficult and B is not my strong point. I started answering A then and it was about a ghost writer. I thought I did a good enough job on these. With the composition, there were two short story questions which was great for me but if you had of done a speech I think it would have been tricky as there was only one option!! I did mine about a main character who has to overcome a challenge and show how's it transformed them! I really hope it went ok! From talking to everyone, everyone seems happy enough! Overall, I think it was a good enough paper and I’m pleased with how it went. I can’t say I’m ecstatic but I never am after Paper 1! Fingers crossed for the role of women in Othello tomorrow and a bitta Montague!! :D
Joanna - Higher Level
Day one - English paper 1You can't open the exam paper until the examiner says you can, but the ink on the inside goes through a little and you can make out the picture before you turn over the page. When I got my paper I thought to myself, that's a weird looking woman. I was anticipating something about human-rights or about equality and guess what, it was Bono and a speech he gave to the UN or something. I was delighted, but rather than jump straight in I decided to check the essay questions. I had a short story in mind going into the exam and two of the composition titles suited it. Grand. Then I checked the part B’s and I was so disappointed when the part B under the Bono comprehension suited me best. That meant I couldn't do that comprehension and had to choose one of the other part A’s. I got a bit thrown because I didn't know which to choose and the hall seemed so loud with rummaging and turning pages... I took a deep breath and looked at the other part A’s. The first of the two were about ghost literature writing (not really an interest of mine) but the questions looked very similar to past examples I had practiced so I decided to give it a go. I ended up really liking it actually, and my letter for the functional writing asking to have the sixth year graduation back went well too. I had an hour left for the composition, which was tight enough, but I managed to mould my essay into the fourth title, an ending in my life that I consider important, and before I knew it, I was just starting my concluding paragraph when the examiner called out that these are the last ten minutes and no one can leave. That's when I realised just how stiff my entire arm was, but I kept going and put down the last full stops just as we were asked to put our pens down. It was over. *sigh*On the side, I must say, deciding to cycle in to the exam in the morning was a great idea. Not only did I avoid having to drink a coffee in the morning, the whole effort of getting changed and then getting on the bike loosened up my arm and the fresh air helped to relax a bit. Now, time to get some early dinner, rest and then get stuck into the selected pile of Othello, Poetry and Comparative notes waiting for me in my room. Best of luck to everyone and congratulations on surviving day one! :)
Isabelle - Higher Level
The theme of this year's English paper one was "Challenges", something pretty universal, that most Leaving Cert students can relate to going into their first exam. The choice of Question B's wasn't my favourite, (I would have liked a nice diary entry!) but I went for the letter to the Principal in the end, which was fairly straightforward!The Question A I went for was one about an article discussing the problems authors face writing Ghost Novels in a time where people don't believe in Ghosts. I actually found the article quite interesting and so it wasn't too difficult to write about. The 20 mark question wasn't about style, but instead about the images that accompanied the text, which I hadn't prepared too much on, but I thought it went quite well overall. Finally the composition -being someone who's quite active in debating and Model United Nations I was praying for a speech and my prayers were answered! There was a lovely question asking you to write a speech to be delivered at the United Nations Youth Conference in which you consider some of the causes and possible solutions to what you see as the defining struggles in our age. This question was right up my street and so the rest of the exam flew by – here’s just hoping paper 2 is kind to us tomorrow!
Asha - Higher Level
English Paper 1I still don't think it quite hit me that I was doing the Leaving Certificate until I opened the paper and started breezing through the reading comprehensions to find the one that I liked best.It didn't take more than a paragraph of the first to realise that I certainly wasn't doing that one. Likewise the question B simply didn't appeal.The next two had me stumped a bit. Once I made the decision to do the question B from text 3 that decided the matter. I quite enjoyed the piece on ghost writing and the challenges of it in a modern society. I quickly made links with other references to this in pop- culture. It was engaging although my performance is another question entirely as the comprehensions have never been my strength.I answered the question B on old people. I thought it interesting but I think I missed out on answering the first part of the question about the influence of older people on younger people. The second part was easy enough. It was a fair question overall, even though book intro's aren't something that we really covered. It was a bit of an article in the end I think or at least that's how I wrote it.As for the composition, there was never any question of my doing something that wasn't a personal essay which narrowed my options down to one. That was slightly disappointing however I digress. It was a workable title on our response to an ending or a number of endings. Fitting given that this was the beginning of the end. I managed to eek out 4 pages which is more than I've ever written for one essay so I was suitably impressed and had five minutes to spare. I regained all feeling in my hand shortly after.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
STUDENTS SCAPEGOATED... again
Press Statement
ISSU speaks out in opposition to using students as pawns in industrial dispute
Teachers are often too slow to embrace significant change, and on this occasion they have brought reasonable talks to a deadlock due to a failure to adapt. Teachers correct hundreds of school-based assessments for individual subject exams or indeed for in-house Christmas and summer exams. We would recommend that the anonymity attached to exam numbers provided by the State Examinations Commission be maintained, and that teachers swap exam scripts within the same school to address concerns over bias. This change is needed and we need to move with it.Joanna Siewierska, ISSU Education Officer, said “We are lucky to have some of the most dedicated and committed teachers teaching us, but once again industrial action on this scale during school hours means that students are being used as pawns in what ultimately is an industrial dispute not solely concerning educational reform. My teachers correct my Christmas and summer exams during the school year and when it comes to the award of the new JCSA, why is correcting these papers any different? We respectably ask teachers to refrain from industrial action in this manner and return to talks with the Minister for Education and Skills”.*** ENDS *** Contact: 01-443 4461 / communications@issu.ie
Leaving Cert Maths Paper 2
Keelyn - Higher Level:
The one word I would use to describe this exam is better. Paper two was nicer than paper one. Some of the questions were quite tricky especially the last long question, about a clock of all things. There was a lot of probability and statistics. I'm confident I passed it but I doubt by very much.
Aoife - Ordinary Level:
Maths paper 2..... Well, it wasn't ideal but it was decent... It was expected to be more difficult than paper 1 considering the how straight forward that exam proved to be. I feel some of the questions were just oddly phrased and I spent most of my time trying to figure out what it was asking me rather than actually doing maths. The test overall seemed needlessly complicated in words but once you could decipher it, the "maths" part was actually quite easy.
Brendan - Ordinary Level
This was a much better paper overall than Paper 1. Although parts were tricky, the 70 marks available for the question about the property tax was very straightforward and topical. The questions were not too wordy and in line with what was expected. A question about a windmill was also topical, but slightly more challenging. Section A allocated 50 marks to probability and although definitely not my favorite topic it was generally fine. Questions 3 and 4 were also fairly nice. Most candidates seemed relatively happy. A quick change of focus was undoubtedly needed with Irish in the afternoon and many students, excluding me, can see light at the end of the tunnel with a large chunk of the exams now out of the way. Best of luck with Irish Paper 2!
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Leaving Cert Geography
Declan - Higher Level
I like Geography, so I was positive going into todays exam. I started off by doing the short questions, which usually are fine. However, I felt some of the questions were a bit tricky and I did guess I few... We have a selection and get marked on 10 in total (So, hopefully, that will be ok).Many people feel physical geography is the easiest, I prefer the regional & particularly the economic geography. I was delighted many of the questions I have covered really well came up, like the multinational companies (I had the Johnson & Johnson case study revised) and I did the case study on the Wexford coast for the question on human interaction with coastal processes. I felt these went well. I was delighted with my answer in the economic geography section, particularly the question on the impacts on the european union enlargement. Overall, I thought the long questions were pretty good.This morning in school there was a lot of predictions on the essay. Unfortunately, I'd imagine there was a lot of disappointment when the desert biome didn't come up. I was a risk taker with the essays and only had the human alterations to biome studied, goes to show stick with your instincts! Although, for future students I'd recommend be well covered for the essays (that section is worth 80 marks!!), because there was people who weren't in the best situation with only the desert biome learned.A bit of advice, don't base your exams on predictions it doesn't work out (look what happened Heaney for english paper 2).All in all, I thought it was a decent paper and I was happy with it. It's always good to know that we have a project done for this subject, it gives ya a bit of reassurance in a exam.Best of luck to you all in the exams ahead!
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Irish Second-Level Students' Union Launches 2014 Exam Blog
For immediate release:
The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) would today like to wish the very best of luck to students nationwide who are beginning their Leaving Cert, Leaving Cert Applied and Junior Cert examinations this week.The ISSU annual exam blog will go live on Wednesday the 4th of June, and students from across the country will be blogging throughout the exams, letting us know how they’re finding the exam process, and what they think of the exams themselves.
ISSU President, Craig Mc Hugh said; ‘“Students in Ireland should take care to relax over the next few weeks and avoid cramming, the most important thing is for them to present what they’ve learned over the course of their studies, not in the night before. As a fifth year student myself, I can only begin to imagine the feelings among exam students, but I’d like to urge all candidates to relax and realise that they are only human and can only do their best.”
ISSU Education Officer Joanna Siewierska said; “I wish all exam students the very best of luck for the next few weeks. Exams can be stressful for many students, but I’d encourage them all to remember that this is their chance to show what they have been learning for the last few years. Ninety-nine percent of the work is already done and everyone really is in the finishing straight now!”.
The ISSU will be running a daily exam blog on issu.ie with contributions from students nationwide.
Junior Cert Maths Paper 2
David - Higher Level
Paper 2 was a delight for me! After my worrying that paper two would be as hard as paper one, I wasn't confident going into the exam, but I soon settled when I read the questions.Q1 - I got on great, no surprises but I had trouble with part C, attempt marks will have to do for that one! Q2 - Was co-ordinate geometry, probably my favorite section of p2, so easy, so likable, for me anyway, I spent a good bit of time on this question though as I had to draw two diagrams.Q3/Q4/Q5 - Trigonometry, my least favorite part of the course, I think we went through trigonometry pretty fast in school, so I never really got a feel for it, but these questions went great, I got both theorems correct along with the construction so I got a good few marks there my teacher predicted one of the two theorems correctly, the long equiangular triangles one, but the other one was a pleasant surprise as it's shorter and easier than the other one she predicted. The rest was pretty easy too though, maybe that could be down to me trying to learn theorems all weekend getting used to it more? Who knows, bottom line - It went well.Q6 - I did no study for this, this was always easy to me, there was an ogive question which is always nice to see, no drawing of a histogram however, which was disappointing as although they take longer, they're easy marks. Q6 went great for me - thankfully.All in all, Maths was okay this year, the very hard paper 1 and the easy paper two balanced out to make it not too tough.. and not too easy :(
Lorraine - Ordinary Level
Hey guys!Lorraine here! :) I did Maths paper 2 today! Im ordinary level and I have to say, after a gruelling 3 hours study yesterday of solid maths with my sister, I think I did OK!Normally, I'm ok up to Q4 and thats when I start to get stuck. In the first few questions there was no shocks or anything, it was all whats normally on the papers. At Q4 we had to bisect an angle and we wernt allowed to use a protractor, although I'm not sure how they would know or not? :P I probably did it wrong, but I did attempt it! After that It was grand. All the usuals were there and we had the log books with all the formulas we needed in it. I think I did very well until Q6. I could do the first parts no bother it was only the last bit where I was like Arrrghhh! I attempted everything which I was delighted with.Overall, If you studyed I think you'll do well. A good few people out of my room did get up and leave and there was only 2 of us ordinary level students walking out at half 11. I walked out of my exam and there weren't many of us walking out at half 11, even though most of the year is ordinary.I felt very sorry for the honours and I looked through there paper and my God its hard! Seriously, If your doing honours fair play to you! If I find pass hard imagine what I'd be like in honours?!I think I done well and I'm happy with how I answered everything this time round.Good Luck to everybody in the exams still to come :)
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.