‘I'm getting paid to actually study' – meet the TikTokers who earn cash for Leaving Cert videos

Irish Independent

2 days ago

How to get to 635 points, the finer points of the tuiseal ginideach and concerns around grade inflation are among issues covered in the online ecosystem of the TikTok influencer.
Ella Martin (19), from Co Meath, has a place in a dance college in Dublin secured already, so points are not too relevant for her. Her 'Spend The Day Studying with Me' TikTok content features video of her at her desk interspersed with other activities and hanging out with friends.
Ella is a brand ambassador for Simple Study, an online subscription platforms that provides access to revision notes, past papers and quizzes.
'I got a message from them about four weeks ago asking would I be interested in doing one video for them and I said absolutely. I was earning commission off however many people used [my discount] code,' Ella said.
'Now the videos I'm making up to the Leaving Cert are all paid for as well. It's €20 a video, which is really good for just videoing what I'm going to be doing during the day anyway. I'm getting paid to actually study.
'It was really motivating. It meant I had to get up and make my bed tidy, make my bedroom presentable, and then actually sit down and study.'
​Eighteen-year-old Ryan Dolan, from Co Westmeath, needs to get at least 500 points to study law in Galway. He started his TikTok account this year after an injury left him unable to play Gaelic football.
'It was quite nerve-racking, I won't lie. I didn't know what the perception was going to be at the start,' he said. 'It felt like there was a lot of slagging going on at first. But people started to realise, 'oh, Ryan's able to put up a TikTok in the evening and he makes as much money as I'm making [at a part-time job] over the weekend'.'
At one point he was getting so many negative messages, he had friends logging into his account to filter what was coming in. But he said things have calmed down since.
Ryan works with a company called Grinds 360, whose investors include former rugby star Brian O'Driscoll. He describes himself as a Leaving Cert creator, and makes videos that are typically 'day-in-the-life' content.
'I don't get paid to make the videos, but for anybody who uses my code, I get €50 for a referral,' he said.
Ryan recounted an incident in which a 'random account' posted a video accusing him and other exam TikTokers of scaremongering. 'That wasn't very nice,' he said. 'There is a lot of scaremongering out there, but I try to motivate people away from the fear of the Leaving Cert.'
Catríona Lawless-Molyneux (19) sat her Leaving Cert last year. From outside Mullingar, she now lives in Belfast, and has just finished her first year studying English and Irish at Queen's University. She's an ambassador for study website Studyclix.
'Last year they gave us free full access to the website, and Studyclix merchandise,' Catríona said. 'This year I have been involved in a number of paid promotions for them, receiving up to €250.'
She posted recently about fearmongering. 'Looking back at myself last year, I was definitely part of a group of people that I'm sure people were sick of seeing on their social media just talking about the Leaving Cert. But I feel like this year it has taken on a whole new form. I've seen videos of people saying they're waking up at 5:30 in the morning to do a 12-hour study day,' she said.
Aisling Walsh, from Co Mayo, is currently in Australia on exchange as part of her studies in law and politics in UCD. The 21-year-old sat her Leaving Cert in 2022, the year that several people pinpointed as the year this kind of content really took off. She became known at the time as The Leaving Cert Girl.
'I started to do day-in-the-life videos. I was doing these study days that were between five and eight hours, which obviously was a lot of study. It blew up because of people's reaction to the amount of study that I was doing,' Aisling said.​
She now works for Studyclix's social media team, having posted sponsored content for the company when she was studying for her Leaving Cert.
Jake Glendon, a 19-year-old from Kilkenny, sat his Leaving Cert last year and still posts online advice for students. He also runs grinds on Zoom for a €15 hourly rate. He previously worked with Studyclix, and now works with Simple Study.
'If the video does really well, and you do 20,000 views, you could get anywhere from €70 to €100. They give bonuses depending on how the content does,' Jake said.
Caoimhe Graham's 'Day in the Life' TikTok videos have a slightly different context. The 18-year-old, who lives in Galway, has a kidney condition – IgA nephropathy – that has flared up in the past few weeks. It means she is studying and posting videos from her hospital bed.
Last November, her mother Susan died. 'Considering everything, I definitely think I am doing really well,' she said. Caoimhe went back to school two weeks after her mum died, and sat every paper on her mocks. 'They were fine,' she said.
She is hoping to get Advanced Therapeutic Technology in RCSI. She describes her TikTok as 'a studying account. I've really enjoyed it, and being able to help people. I've had messages from people all over the country. People come up to me and thank me for posting videos'.