Watch: Leaving Cert & Me - RTÉ reporters' memories
The Leaving Certificate begin for tens of thousands of students on Wednesday.
Even if your school days are long behind you, we all have memories - or the occasional nightmare - about exam time and how it impacted our lives.
Some of our reporters have been taking a trip down memory lane...
David McCullagh - Six One News presenter:
Sharon Tobin - Six One News presenter:
Paul Cunningham - Political Correspondent:
Brian O'Donovan - Work & Technology Correspondent:
Sinéad Hussey - Midlands Correspondent:
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Irish Examiner
13 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Teachers praise Leaving Cert geography, but slam Junior Cycle history as 'illogical and unfair'
This year's Leaving Certificate geography exam contained no major surprises, offering students a "lovely" and well-balanced paper with reliable and current questions. However, the unfamiliar 'donut' graph format may have caused some stress for students, teachers who reviewed the paper said. On the third day of the 2025 State exams, Leaving Cert students sat geography on Friday morning, while Junior Cycle students took their history paper. The Junior Cycle history exam once again faced criticism from teachers, who say the continued absence of mark allocations and limited time remain significant challenges for students. The 2025 Ordinary Level geography paper was described as fair by Laura O'Sullivan, a teacher at Bantry Community School and secretary of the Cork Geography Teachers' Association. 'The short questions were really well scaffolded with images, which is really good for candidates, and the longer questions were very accessible," Ms O'Sullivan said. At Higher Level, she added, the short answer section was more balanced than in previous years. 'In previous years, they were looked for loads of answers for small marks whereas I think this year they were more realistic about what can be achieved in a short amount of time which is fantastic.' One graph question may have presented difficulty for some Higher Level students, she noted. 'It was just a different kind of graph than they would have come across before.' 'Your more able candidates would have been fine but the weaker candidates might struggle with it.' 'They just won't be used to having seen it, but if they treat it like they treat other graphs, and don't panic, then they'll be fine.' Students also needed to read a question on rock types and landscapes carefully, she said, as it required more than one example. 'If they only did one rock type, and one landscape, then they'll probably only get half the marks.' Overall, she described the paper as very fair and said she was 'very happy' with its structure and content. Margaret Fitzpatrick, a teacher at Midleton CBS, also praised the 2025 geography paper. 'The biggest challenge was actually completing it because they would have so much knowledge." "It was a lovely, lovely paper with each section nicer than the other.' 'If students had worked off their exam papers, they should have been well able for it. The only challenge would be getting it done in the time allowed.' Junior Cycle Meanwhile, Junior Cycle history continues to pose a major challenge, according to Studyclix subject expert Jamie Dockery, a teacher at Tyndall College, Carlow. Students are expected to answer eight questions across a wide range of topics within a strict two-hour limit. 'Not accounting for the time needed to pre-read the paper and review answers, practices teachers actively encourage, students are left with roughly fifteen minutes per question." "That's a demanding pace, even for the most capable candidates." 'This year, the difficulty was compounded yet again by the continued absence of mark allocations on the exam paper. Each of the eight questions carried different marks, yet students were given no indication of this during the exam." Mr Dockery added that under time pressure, students should have the option to prioritise higher-value questions. "A basic exam strategy they are taught in every other subject. Denying them this opportunity in History is both illogical and unfair," he added. 'It risks disadvantaging students in their results and may even deter some from continuing with History into Senior Cycle." Read More Junior Cycle English short story question sparks criticism from teachers
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Irish Independent
‘Roughly what I expected' – Leaving Cert students react after first day of exams
Over 140,000 students sat down this morning to face English, the first of their Leaving Certificate exams. The Irish Independent caught up with two of these students for their reactions as they exited their exam hall. Ms Healy said: 'It was roughly what I expected. I really liked seeing Margaret Atwood on the paper. She's one of my favourite authors. And I also liked the personal essay." The Higher Level paper was topical and current from a reading comprehension on a speech given by Margaret Atwood and extracts from the Man Booker Prize Winner Orbital to a composition assignment tasking students with a podcast script. For the personal essay, Helena chose question 6 - 'In Text 2 Margaret Atwood refers to cherishing, 'democratic elections'. Write a personal essay in which you reflect on some of the factors that would influence your voting intentions in future elections'. 'I thought it was general enough where you could talk about anything that you were interested in, but it wasn't so broad that you wouldn't have enough ideas. Overall I thought the paper was really nice and hope I did well,' she said. Fred Movete (18), who sat Ordinary Level English Paper 1, was also happy with his paper. With love a theme across Ordinary Level paper 1, with Beatles' song 'All You Need is Love' in the mix, writing about universal experiences was key. He said: 'I definitely felt the pressure but once I started everything was ok. There was maybe one question [that caught me] but I think I will do great.' Mr Movete is looking forward to his history exam next Wednesday and hopes for an essay on the Nuremberg trials to come up on the paper next Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT "It's my favourite subject, for the research study report I covered the CIA's secret programme MK-Ultra,' he said. Ms Healy and Mr Movete's year group were in first year when Covid-19 upended the nation. Nuala Brady, Deputy Principal, said: 'This would be the year group we would have worried for the most because they didn't get the proper foundation initially.' 'It's been a challenging couple of years for all post-Covid.' Leaving Certificate results this year will once again be artificially inflated through a post-marking adjustment which will be applied after all marking of individual papers has been completed. This was first introduced to compensate for students who missed out on classes due to school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tomorrow students will take on English Paper 2 before Geography and Maths Paper 1 on Friday.
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- RTÉ News
Record number of students to begin Leaving and Junior Cert exams
A record number of candidates will begin the State Leaving and Junior Certificate exams today. 140,457 students will sit the exams, the first time the number has exceeded 140,000. The rise is due to population growth. 61,632 candidates will take the main Leaving Certificate written exams over the next several weeks, an increase of 5% compared to last year. There has been an 11% rise in students opting for the Leaving Certificate Applied programme. 4,512 students have chosen that pathway. 74,313 candidates will begin their Junior Cycle exams this morning. The State exams will take place in examination centres across more than 800 post-primary schools and other centres across the country. The State Examinations Commission has described the process as "a massive logistical exercise involving the secure distribution of circa four million examination papers". The exams begin at 9.30am with English Paper 1 for most Leaving Certificate students. LCA and Junior Cycle candidates will also sit English papers. The last Leaving Certificate exam takes place on 24 June. Leaving Certificate results this year will once again be artificially inflated through a post-marking adjustment which will be applied after all marking of individual papers has been completed. Post-marking adjustments were introduced following the Covid pandemic in an attempt to compensate students who had missed out as a result of school closures and other restrictions arising from the pandemic. Following a request from the Department of Education and in order to facilitate a gradual return to normal pre-Covid outcomes, this year's post-marking adjustment will be reduced to bring results in aggregate on average to a point broadly midway between 2020 and 2021 levels. Leaving Certificate results will be issued to candidates on Friday 22 August. The State Examinations Commission said this date took account of the time needed to apply the post-marking adjustment. It said the timeline for results also had to allow sufficient time for an extensive range of quality assurance checks to be undertaken. Minister for Education Helen McEntee is among many public figures and organisations who have wished the Class of 2025 good luck. Sending her best wishes, Ms McEntee said: "I know the amount of work and effort you have put in to reach this point. It is the culmination of many years of effort. "This can be a very stressful time so I would remind everyone that when it comes to examinations, all we can do is our best. "We are all very much behind you over the next few weeks, and I know that regardless of the outcome of these examinations, there will be many great opportunities ahead for you all," she said.
