Leaving Certificate Irish Paper 2
Liam - Higher Level 
Questions that I did: 1, 2A, 3A and 4A.That was weird. The lack of both Géibheann and Gnáthrud was unexpected, I thought one of the two would make an appearance! The no 'saol & Saothar an file' 9 marker was different. But the no seanra litríochta was nice!I started with my question on 'An Triail' because I liked it least and it was worth most. Don't get my wrong, who doesn't like the aul "Mallacht Dé anuas ortsa, a striapach"! The question was straightforward enough, about Máire's life after meeting Pádraig so it was grand.Next I did the question on Oisín i dTír na nÓg. There were 3 questions and you had to do 2, I did the one on Oisín being loving and loyal and the exaggeration. They were grand like, I thought the only question they'd ask is the tréithe béaloidis. But sure it was alright!Then it was poetry and an tEarrach Thiar. In fairness , the questions weren't bad, owing to the fact one of the questions wasn't the 'guaranteed' one.The léamhtuiscints were actually easy enough. I highlighted the answers in the text first , then copied them into my answer booklet. It was the most efficient way I think. I was delighted that no seanra litríochta came up either. Never really liked them !I'm happy enough with it! I wrote enough for them anyway and it could have gone a lot lot worse. At least we're done with that!!
Emma - Higher Level 
Irish paper two, good lord!! I had expected some sort of difficulty in the exam but not to that extent! However my trauma was short lived when I realised the questions were quite nice on both Oisin and An Tearrach!I began with the them to get them out of the way and wrote tonnes for the poem but a mere 2 pages for the pros! Onto the leamhthuiscints, the part B's were extremely different than other years there was no deciphering types or genres, which was nice. I found I overwrote a lot on those, there was so much to say!! The themes for the leamthuisicnts were very topical and interesting and I nearly forgot I was in an exam! UNTIL that awful Maidhc question came from a "Thig na Tít orm"! Everyone had expected his family life to come up but of course the SEC wouldn't make it that easy!! However with some breaking down of the question it was easy to put together some paragraphs based around key events of his life!! I'm so sad that my battle with Gaeilge in secondary school has ended, but overall the exam as a whole could have been a lot worse!! (Imagine caca milis!)
Cárthach - Higher Level 
One of the nicest papers in recent years, despite the two predicted Prose and Poem not making an appearance. A huge shock to many I imagine, luckily our year had prepared for all of them, since we knew the LC focus was noted on the website to be about losing the LC's predictability. A right kick to anyone who chanced to only study 'Géibheann' and 'An Gnáthrud'...My heart goes out to you!Dom fhéin mar chainteoir ó dhúchas, cheap mé go raibh an páipéar bog a dhóthain do gach duine, in aineoinn don gheit a baineadh as daoine faoin bprós agus filíocht ainmnithe. Bhí na léamhthuiscintí intuigthe go maith agus ní raibh na ceisteanna (6) deacair i comparáid le blianta eile.In comparison to other years, the reading comprehensions and grammar questions were much gentler on the student who struggle with languages in general, in my opinion, as the topics were recent and also covered by essays people learn for Paper 1's composing.This nice paper 2 contrasted greatly what was to come in the afternoon; the absolute slaughter that was the higher level Biology paper!
Ellen - Higher Level 
It's hard now to think of that lovely little Irish paper after the events of this afternoon's Biology. The Leamhthuiscints were extremely manageable I felt in comparison to other years, except I felt the q6b's required a lot more comprehension than before. My class was doing the Cúrsa Roghnach and wasn't I delighted last night when I only had 3 poems to study. Even better, in the exam I had a choice of dán nua aimseartha and chose Jack by Máire Mhic an tSaoi. Bhí sé go hálainn. I was even happy with the prós- scéal bealoidis for me meant an Cearrbhach Mac Cába and there was a choice within the question - traits of the main characters, importance of the minor characters and traits of béaloideas, which was also an deas ar fad. Even Gafa (my least favourite part of the whole course) was manageable with a general relationship question between Eithne, Eoin and Breandán. Ní raibh sé ró olc ar an iomlán, but I'm just thinking now, I'll never need to know that much Irish ever ever again...!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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Business Studies
Shane - Higher Level Paper 1 & 2 
Business is by far one of my favourite subjects and I went into in today actually excited.Paper 1 - I started off with the short questions to ease me into the exam and just to get them out of the way ASAP. These went extremely well and I feel they were nice questions. Then I moved on to the long questions. I did Q1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. I started with Q1 and was very happy that it was a budget comparison. Then as expected on to the club accounts. I did the income and expenditure account along with my balance sheet and was rejoicing when it balanced. Then I did Q3 on economics. I laughed when I realised anybody doing HL Maths would have known from Paper 2 that there are 28 EU states and that was how most people would get there answer. Moving on, Q4 was a nice report writing question (one I expected on Paper 2) and that went great. When I had my first four questions fully finished and checked over twice, I still had 40 minutes left. I had a feeling that I would have at least half an hour left so I did Q6 which was also a great question. I loved this business paper and I thought it was a great platform to show my love of the subject and achieve a high grade.Paper 2 - This paper I knew would go well. I knew I’d do Q2 and Q4 before I started because no matter how many times I say I don’t like accounts, I am still good at them. I feel Q2 went great and I cannot describe the massive grin I had when I saw my Net Assets match my Capital Employed! In addition, I did Q3, 4, and 5. I don’t recommend anybody do Q1 as it is really time consuming and no matter how many times I tried, I wasn’t able to do them (not to mention the fact my business teacher warned us to stay away from them). Q3 on working out the daily cost went without a hitch and then so did Q6. I was happily surprised to see the appearance of an analysed cash book on Q5 and I jumped at the chance to do it. In the end, I’m a very happy person with these papers and I am just euphoric at how they went. I really look forward now to business next year, but for now, time to focus on History tomorrow! Wishing you all the best of luck in History and to anybody doing French!
Philip - Higher Level Paper 1 & 2 
Paper 1 - This wasn't the hardest business paper I've done but a change to the way some of the short questions were asked caught me a little off guard. All in all though I think I got most of the short questions. Then I did the budget question which, apart from a few mistakes that I caught when I looked over it, I think I got most of the marks in that question. Next I did the club account question, which was pretty much a final accounts question and I got it to balance. It also had the questions on treasurer which come up often enough. I skipped question three because it had a lot of stuff I didn't really know. After this I skipped to question six because it seemed easier than the other two remaining questions. That went well enough, I think. Next I did the report writing question. I think part A went well, though I wasn't sure how to describe "tax credit". I think the report itself went well though, even if being given a space to write in made it slightly more difficult seeing as I had to write such a small amount on each topic. Finally I did question five so I had a spare question done. I think I got these questions done well enough though. Overall, not a bad paper in my opinion!
Paper 2 - In this paper the only question I didn't do was question 1. I don't like those questions. I think they are twice as long as a normal question for the same points. Anyway I did the Business document question to start. I think these questions are rarely too hard, with 90% of the information being given to you in the question and this year was no different. Because of that I finished this question quickly. Next I did the final accounts question which, apart from a few mistakes which I had time to go back and find before moving on, I did well in and balanced without too much trouble. The part B was easy enough seeing as you were given the formula. Next I moved back to the cost of delivery question. I had a little trouble with this as when I got to the cost of diesel for one day part I couldn't get it to divide in properly. I ended up just rounding it up and the part B went fine. Next I did the form of business ownership question which was definitely not the hardest question. Part A was pretty much what you'd expect but part B was just to draw a bar chart. Finally I did the analysed cash book. I think this was my worst question and I did it last just in case so to have a spare question. I'm not very confident with these questions but I took my best shot at it. Now, I need to go study for french and history. Good luck everybody!
Chloe - Higher Level Paper 1 & 2 
Paper 1 - So I started with the short questions as always and found them to be very doable with some awkward question thrown in here and there.I then did the club account, which was great as income and expenditure accounts are very hard to mess up too badly, then it was time to do the balance sheet and I tried for so long to get it to balance but it didn’t (aww).Next I did the question on borrowing and saving, followed by the economics question and finishing with people at work & ICT. They were all very fair questions and I think I did quite well with this paper.Paper 2 - So I started at the back with question 6 which I felt was a really nice question and would get me settled into the exam. It definitely did as this was a topic I understood very well and so I feel my answers were strong enoughThen I went on to the business documents question, I must admit I found it quite tricky but I think I managed to make a good stab at itNext was the question on the analysed cash book and monitoring over heads, honestly it had been a long time since id looked at monitoring over heads and so I struggled slightly with this but I think my answers were good in the endI ended with the final account and balance sheet. I was going grand until I came near the end any my mind blanked I couldn’t remember the last sections of wither accounts. In the end I think I was kind of right but I was so annoyed considering it’s a question I had been prepared for!Overall I don’t feel this paper was too challenging and I’m hoping that I did wellA demain! (get it?)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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Civic, Social & Political Education (CSPE)
Kate - Common Level 
CSPE is such a great exam. I love CSPE as you can actually show up to the exam with an honour grade (due to the action project). I answered every question on the exam for section one and two and did the question on voting for section three. The picture questions were quite unusual and I only recognised the Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan but I guessed the rest (quite successfully I would hope). I continued the rest of the exam and answered everything. I chose the question on voting as it had a poster and I am quite passionate on the issue of voting so this question suited me perfectly. This exam was a lovely end to my first 8 exams and I have a day and a half off to recover!
Philip - Common Level
The picture questions came with their usual clues. The girl from the Garda was in uniform, the person from Northern Ireland had a crown pin and the youngest paddies day parade leader was the only young person in the four pictures, which left one left making it obvious enough (God after describing it like that I hope I'm not wrong!). The questions with the missing words seemed perfect for me, with the only ones that weren't common sense being the ones I'd glanced at before the exam. Finally the last question on the second page was matching letters to the type of right type of energy (you know, you should probably just take the last brackets for the whole exam).So then I did the comprehension questions, doing every one instead of three and answering in full sentences to not leave myself open to being docked any marks. This was all the usual stuff, the only surprising thing was not finding a question that you could answer with "poster campaign" until the last comprehension!In the long question I did the third one, on visiting the council offices and the youth café, unlike most of the people in my school who saw the word "poster" and jumped at question four before reading the rest. I did a page on each of them and ended up asking for extra paper to do part C.So that was my CSPE exam. Now that its over lets get down to business (that is hilarious and no one can tell me otherwise).
Shane - Common Level
“I studied really hard for CSPE yesterday” - said nobody ever. I don’t know what there is to say about it. CSPE was a nice exam and it went amazing. There is something very reassuring about walking into an exam knowing you have around 60% already in the bag. I was not worried for this exam in the slightest, I got 99% in mocks and put a lot of work into writing up Darkness Into Light as my Action Project. I sat down and did the first section (which was much easier than some years). Then I moved on and did Section 2 questions 1,2, and 3. That was grand. Then I had to choose a long question. I did Question 1 on the 1916 Rising Commemorative Event because I love history and I’ve been to several 1916 events. I actually had to ask for more paper for this section which I thought was weird. Anyway I hope it went as well for all of you as it did for me and to everyone else doing business tomorrow, good luck!
Chloe - Common Level
Well after that horrific maths encounter I was glad that CSPE was next in line! It was good, I guess, to see very different faces on the first page that we wouldn’t have come across before, they were easy enough to make a stab at even I you weren’t 100% sure with one or two.The advertisements were a breeze as usual although I must admit some of the questions on raising awareness for different topics were slightly trickier than usual, maybe that’s just me though! I did questions 1, 2 and 4, skipping the refugee crisis one.Next was the long question, I was glad to see a 1916 question up and I tackled that one without a doubt. I did read through the others but they didn’t appeal that much to me. For this I basically regurgitated what my school did for the rising.So that was CSPE, way harder than maths paper 2 (joke). On to business tomorrow whoo!
Joe - Common Level 
This exam was one of least concern I had done well in the mocks and was confident. The short question went well and I did question 4 in the long questions on the voting awareness event. It was an interesting question and I enjoyed drawing and designing the invite! 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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Leaving Certificate Maths Paper 2
Craig - Ordinary Level 
For those, like myself depending upon "construct a triangle" to come up - today was a blessing!What a relief! That paper was lovely! I was quite tight on time today as I had Irish paper 2 to study for! I'm pretty happy with that paper, they were kind to us in maths this year to be fair - there was plenty of opportunity to show off what we knew!
Ellen - Higher Level
Was it just me or were those long questions a blessing? Seriously I was braced for one of the worst exams of my life after those short q's and then along came that beaut of a lantern. I have never loved pythagoras' theorem so much. I actually love sin and cos graphs so I was in my element with that port question (even with a shneaky bit of differentiation thrown in). Stats has never been my favourite but even I could do the final question. With 40 minutes to spare I could go back to those impossible short questions. I was as heartbroken as anybody to find that none of the constructions or proofs we had spent so long learning off by heart came up. I answered all of them, even though I had no clue what to do for some (the cos question anybody?) and how to do the raffle question is anybodies guess.Overall though, I'm quite pleased with that paper, especially in comparison with Paper 1.
Liam - Higher Level
I must say, paper 2 could have gone a lot worse! I've always been a paper 1 kinda guy, owing to the fact I'm not the biggest fan of Stats, Probabilty or even the circle side of Geometry but aside from all that, I'm reasonably happy with maths.The first section was reasonably okay. There were some parts that were reasonably tricky and needed some time, such as the geometric circle question 2 or the Venn diagram in question 5. Those things I never really had much interest to begin with so I forgot that I didn't know them... oops.The long questions. The place where even the SatNav would get confused and lost at times was actually okay! Usually Stats always put me off but this time they were quite easy. The questions were straightforward and for once... as you'd expect to see them in the textbook!I never seem to time myself for maths, it's usually a case of doing what I like first and then.... the rest. But I figured it best to get the disgusting statistics and probability out of the was as quick as possible too, even there wasn't too much of it there!It wasn't too bad, in saying that, it could've been a lot worse!
Emma - Ordinary Level
Maths paper two was surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be!! For a girl with little mathematical capability I flew through the easier parts and like everything the harder parts took more time similar to paper one. Although it would not be right to say that it was EASY, I found it more manageable than the past few years exam papers!! Perhaps it is being in the exam hall which makes you concentrate more than at home when you are trying to figure out difficult parts!The questions on the line, the circle and the triangle caught me because it is something I failed to revise properly, but I attempted everything. I found section b much more manageable and had severe trouble with drawing that pie chart, which took me over half an hour!! Classic pass maths.Overall my final experience with maths was positive, but I was thrilled to dump the exam papers and put the maths set away!!
Cárthach - Higher Level
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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Maths Paper 2
Kate - Higher Level
I was somewhat dreading this paper due to my experience in maths paper one. After a disastrous maths paper one, paper two was delightful. Paper two is my stronger paper and I surprisingly dint' struggle with any of the questions. I answered the theorem question first (as it I would forget it if I didn't do it straight away). The theorem was wonderful, 'prove that all the angles in a triangle add up to 180'. Next I went back to the start and answered everything. The first question, I answered using trial and error so I may lose some marks but sure what can you do. The question on the inter quartile range threw me a little and I ended up doing two or three graphs to display my data. Other than that the paper was great. Compared to the difficult paper one, I was glad to have an easy paper to save my grade. All in all I thought this paper was wonderful and a nice follow up to paper one!
Philip - Higher Level
I opened this paper and went straight to the theorems while I still remembered them. I have to be honest here, I almost laughed when I saw what theorem it was. I don't think anyone would disagree that we got the easiest theorem. I mean, what are the odds? (Ok its like 1 in 5 but most of the teachers in my school were predicting the pythagoras theorem proof). Anyway I think that's enough about the theorem.After that I went back to the start and worked my way through. The paper over all went well enough, there were a few questions I found though but I think they were only five markers (but it was an irrational panic because I finished with time to spare). For some reason the graph question went against me, it just didn't seem to be working out, but I think I got most of the answers on that question. I think most of the other questions were in the log tables!
Shane - Higher Level
So, Maths is over! I could not be any happier to tell you the truth (that is until I finish TG). I feel fine about this paper. Some parts were easy, some weren’t. I was going fine until Q4 on co-ordinate geometry. I spent a lot of time studying it but still just couldn’t do it. Anyways, things picked back up after it and I was working away well. The whole feeling of this paper was also different. I sat down and started it, but everything felt quite slow. I felt like I sped through Paper 1 on Friday but this felt much longer and drawn out. I was also extremely annoyed they put the easiest theorem on the paper because I invested a ridiculous amount of time studying theorem 14 (proving Pythagoras) and then the one one the angles in a triangle adding up to 180 degrees comes up instead? Honestly, I still feel I did well but I didn’t like the format of this paper.It felt different to other years and just weird. Fingers crossed that I got the B! I will be glad to see the back of an exam year Maths class for another year. I hope you all did well in this paper and are feeling very optimistic!
Chloe - Higher Level
Well I can start by saying I am so happy that theorem of Pythagoras didn’t come up as I was dreading its appearance and thankfully to prove that the 3 angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees did. This was my first question and it was also the beginning and end of my happiness in paper 2.I can honestly say that I couldn’t answer one question with a full notion of getting it right. I was scanning my brain for inspiration and it never came. I began with the idea that paper 2 was my ‘favourite’ but that was slowly crushed as I delved into the pages. So much for relying on it to push up my grade, now that I look back paper 1 was much more straight forward!That’s my opinion, but most of my friends were the contrary I think it was just one of those exams where things just weren’t ‘clicking’ if you know what I mean.Overall paper 2 was a disaster I stuck at it though and didn’t give up with questions easily, which I’m proud of but overall I’m disappointed with it….to say the least!!
Joe - Higher Level
After doing poorly on paper one I was not looking forward to this exam.The exam itself wasn't as difficult as I had feared. I understood most question bar a few parts. The exam went well and the paper had no nasty surprises. 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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Leaving Certificate Irish Paper 1
Cárthach - Higher Level
Nach álainn a bhí sí! (Dar liom)!Cheap mé go raibh an cluastuisint cóir, níor bhraith mé go mbeadh fadhb ag éinne le foclóir srl. Bhí cúpla ceist a chur brú orm claoninsint a úsáid, ach ní raibh sé seo éigeantach!The listening comprehension was nice, nothing too technical I don't think, however two places I thought you had to use indirect speech, which is uncommon, but it wasn't necessary!The essay titles were very good, there really was a wide variety of open topics to interpret in different ways and pretty much everyone I talked to before the exams were hoping for some topic in particular and some essay suited them!Bhí dóthain seansanna ann dóibh siúd a d'ullmhaigh ábhair ar 1916, fadhbanna an lae inniu agus gnáth aistí a bhíonn ar fáil i ngach téacsleabhair agus fós a thug deiseanna do lucht labhartha na Gaoluinne a gcaighdeán a thaispeáint!Best moment is when you know the band in the listening and knew how they were busy last summer before the speaker said it, hup An Crann Óg!
Ellen - Higher Level
Finally my prayers have been answered - in the form of an aiste on imirce, would you believe it? Imirce is my jam and the nathanna deasa were flowing. Unfortunately, I had a few mishaps with grammar which I know even now- let that be a lesson kids, don't use the modh conníolladh if you actually don't know how!Even the listening was quite doable this year, with all of the SEC's favourite focail getting a mention - ina measc feachtas, deontas, míle and eagraíocht. Irish paper I was lovely and relaxed, in complete contrast to what's expected tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm off to watch the Euros!
Liam - Higher Level
Táim croíbhriste lads. No more "Léigh anois go cúramach ar the scrúdpháipéar na treoracha agus na ceisteanna a ghabhann le cuid A" or that reassuring beep that prepares you for the banter that's about to unfold. I thought the cluastuiscint was actually pretty okay! Delighted the Donegal only made an appearance in Fógra a hAon too, no offence muintir Dún na nGall! It was a good cluastuiscint. Anyone else like the big where Clíona seemed a big p'd off at Seán for not doing TY..? Only me...? Oh well, at least I enjoyed that cluastuiscint!It took me a good 10-12 minutes to decide what Aiste to do, it's alright guys, you can afford the time on Paper 1. I eventually went with 'Cultúr na ndaoine óga' and planned and wrote the essay about different aspects of a young person's life. I kept an eye out for the grammar when I writing it because again in Paper 1, you've got the time for it! 5 pages later and a last grammatical read-over and 4:20 pm showed up.I'm happy with Paper 1, who doesn't like a good aiste like! Tomorrow is where the fun'll happen, cannot wait! Ubh agus chips to celebrate!
Emma - Higher Level
Irish paper one!! Another dream paper for me!! The listening was very, very simple compared to previous years, with little Donegal accents evident, which is always a good sign! The topics were interesting and relevant like TY, Conradh na Gaeilge and so on!Onto the written paper. I only prepared two essays but a wide range of topics so I felt ready for whatever could have been thrown. Surprisingly the titles were extremely relevant and matched predictions- 1916, imirce and of course the most chosen essay - Daoine Óga! I, like most people, picked the young peoples essays and discussed it with regards to a couple of main topics- the education system and point system, alcohol and drugs, mental health and the implications of suicide, weight issues and unemployment! This essay title was wide open to a lot of interpretation which is always handy! Overall I tipped the 5 page mark and stayed until the very end reading it over and over again. I also did a rough draft of the essay on an extra sheet of paper to ensure everything was word perfect and that my phrasing made sense. Time flies rewriting the essay! I also spent about 30 mins planning the essay, making spider diagrams and signposting each topic back to the title. It is key to ensure your essay is relevant!I can't WAIT to see what's in store for paper two tomorrow! Go bhfóire Dia orainn!
Craig - Higher Level
I don't know why exactly I'm doing this but today I jumped from Ordinary Level of two years to Higher Level. Today's listening test was insane, I'm not sure what happened there. I did the essay on wonder. I fitted the typical gardai sa teach story in and brought in the wonder as to who they where because they'd masks on.Candles welcome of course to pray for what could be joyous or revolting tomorrow. I'm not sane.
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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie