Leaving Cert Maths Higher Level expert exam tips from Louise Boylan
Study Hub 2025 guest Louise Boylan from Dublin's Institute of Education has some great advice and tips for students sitting Leaving Cert Higher Level Maths.
With over 20 years of experience teaching Maths, Applied Maths and Physics, textbook author Louise consults on the content of Mock Examination papers for students at both Leaving and Junior Certificate Level.
Press play on the images below to watch her tell Study Hub host Maura Fay what to do (and not to do!) when it comes to Paper 1 and Paper 2.
For Paper 1 Louise says: "You can leave tougher questions to the end if you need to. You will get marks at the early parts of the questions so don't get in a tizzy." Press play on the image above for all her expert help.
For Paper 2 Louise looks at some of the very common topics - Trigonometry, Probability, The Normal Curve. Make sure to know your 3 Proofs! Press play on the image above to watch now.
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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert maths: Some students left deflated by ‘off-putting' higher-level exam
Many higher-level Leaving Cert maths students were left deflated by paper one, but it had many manageable elements and was less wordy than in previous years, teachers have said. Eoghan O'Leary, a teacher at Hamilton High School in Cork and head of maths at , said students welcomed a return to more maths and less writing. In recent years, teachers and dyslexic students have repeatedly raised the wordiness of the maths paper, saying that it disadvantages them and is unnecessary. 'The paper was dominated by calculus, sequences & series and algebra,' said Mr O'Leary. READ MORE 'Students who hadn't revised sequences were in trouble because they featured in two long questions, so therefore could not be avoided.' Louise Boylan, a maths teacher at the Institute of Education, said that paper had an off-putting appearance, but was approachable. 'Students likely won't feel triumphant as they leave the exam hall, but they shouldn't feel defeated,' she said, adding that there were many novel elements on the paper. 'While there was a lot that was out of the box – logic puzzle style questions, material that hasn't appeared since the course's overhaul – there was much that would be welcome. Algebraic skills, rates of change, differential calculus, and sequence and series would all have fallen into the familiar,' Ms Boylan said. Stephen Begley, subject expert and head of maths at Dundalk Grammar School, said that the paper was more prompted and scaffolded than usual, and didn't appear as dense as it had in the past. 'While the short questions were rather delightful in ways, the long questions were a little light in parts and were heavily scaffolded,' Mr Begley said. 'Beneficial in ways, the examiner was generous throughout in pointing out what methods and techniques students should use to approach a question, for example by indicating to use a certain formula or technique.' This view was echoed by other teachers, including Ms Boylan. 'Later in the paper, question seven's wall of text will have caused some to pause, but once that was parsed, the underlying sequences and series were familiar,' she said. Overall, Ms Boylan said it was a challenging paper for everyone sitting it as the question setter continues the trend of drawing from all corners of the course. 'As such there was material examined on the paper that simply wasn't present in past exams and some students will rightly feel that they were pushed beyond their comfort zone. However, with much that will earn them marks, they shouldn't focus solely on the negative – the marking will reflect the challenge,' she said. Mr O'Leary said that some students were concerned that, with some students finding it too easy, there was concern that it would be harshly marked. 'I hope there will be fairness there,' Mr O'Leary said. On the ordinary level paper, Mr Begley said that it was a fair paper spanning the usual suspects of financial maths, complex numbers, algebra, calculus, functions, patterns and area. 'While parts were certainly not without challenge, the short questions in section A were quite nice and students could play to their strengths answering any five of the six,' he said. 'Those who prepared using past papers would have benefitted from the familiarity of question styles from years gone by. 'The long questions in Section B had students answer any three of the four. The topics covered here were functions, differentiation, financial maths, number patterns and area. 'Topic wise it followed suit with previous exams and students were well prompted and guided in parts. Overall, a good start to the ordinary level maths exams and all eyes will be on paper two on Monday, for which I advise students to take a look at their statistics, trigonometry, coordinate geometry of the line and circle and probability over the weekend, as these are always the main players,' Mr Begley said. Try this one at home: Leaving Cert maths, higher level, Q6(a) Write down, in descending powers of 𝑝𝑝, the first 3 terms in the binomial expansion of: (2𝑝𝑝 +3)7 Give each term in its simplest form. For example, the first term should be of the form ap 7, where a is a constant.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
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Leaving Cert Reaction: Louise Boylan looks at Maths Higher Level Paper 1
RTÉ Study Hub regular Louise Boylan, maths teacher at The Institute of Education, gives her expert opinion on the Leaving Cert Maths Higher Level Paper 1 exam - shared from their Leaving Cert Analysis series. Key Points A paper with an off-putting appearance but many manageable elements. Continues the trend of pulling material from unexamined areas of the Project Maths Course. Download the Leaving Cert Higher Level Paper 1 exam paper here. Louise says: "Students likely won't feel triumphant as they leave the exam hall, but they shouldn't feel defeated. While there was a lot that was out of the box – logic puzzle style questions, material that hasn't appeared since the course's overhaul – there was much that would be welcome. Algebraic skills, Rates of Change, Differential Calculus, and Sequence and Series would all have fallen into the familiar. Yet the elements of the paper that will stand out to everyone will be those more novel aspects, the things that past papers won't have shown them. Within a number of questions there was something challenging. The 2nd part of Q2, the middle of Q4 and the end of Q5 all added stings to otherwise approachable questions. However, if students could take a moment to breathe and look past their initial reactions, they will see that the question setter has given some helpful hints. Question 4 (b) told you the theorem and expression to use and 5 (c) bolded the font of one line to draw the student's attention to it. Later in the paper, Question 7's wall of text will have caused some to pause, but once that was parsed, the underlying Sequences and Series were familiar. While Question 8 straddled a wide range of topics, Question 9 was neatly in line with previous work. The concluding Question 10 may have more resembled an aptitude test rather than an application of learned methods. This was a challenging paper but challenging for everyone sitting it as the question setter continues the trend of drawing from all corners of the course. As such there was material examined on the paper that simply wasn't present in past exams and some students will rightly feel that they were pushed beyond their comfort zone. However, with much that will earn them marks, they shouldn't focus solely on the negative – the marking will reflect the challenge.
RTÉ News
a day ago
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Leaving Cert Reaction: English Paper 1 & Paper 2 reviewed
For the Leaving Cert class of 2025 one of the big ones is out of the way - fare thee well English! While there is no need to dwell on things, we are here to help you review the exams with experts sharing their thoughts on Leaving Cert English Paper 1 and Paper 2. Plus, you can download the exam papers for Higher and Ordinary Level below: Leaving Cert English Paper 1 - Higher Leaving Cert English Paper 1 - Ordinary Liam Dingle, English teacher at the Institute of Education takes us through Paper 1. Press play up top to watch the video and read on for more. Key points The paper reflected the world beyond the exam hall and the experiences of modern students. The layout and range of questions was consistent with recent papers. Liam says: "Hopefully, students will leave the exam hall with a sense of satisfaction. There were no artificial barriers or curveballs to startle students facing the rest of their exams. The paper advocated for optimism and the fight of the underdog; hopefully they will have taken that message to heart." Study Hub regular Clodagh Havel casts an eye over Paper 2 in the video above. She describes it as "a testing paper, not necessarily an arduous one but nevertheless students will feel a lot more pushed to react and grapple with the exam than they did yesterday." Her key points "Duality" seems to have been a hidden theme throughout. Some unusual vocabulary will have caused some to pause or feel disconcerted in their approach. Clodagh says: "Many will leave the exam hall feeling that it was a long slog, particularly in comparison to the much more amenable Paper 1. Yet underneath the sometimes excessively worded questions, there was something for everyone. Students who allowed themselves the composure to peel away the layers of the onion will find themselves tired but satisfied."
