Leaving Certificate Physics
Liam - Higher Level 
Questions that I did; 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 & 12(a) & (c)Physics, physics, physics. Not gonna lie , it had some tricky questions but this is one of those subjects where you just don't know!The experiments were grand, I loved the equilibrium question! And after that I needed to do the other 2 but I didn't like the look of them, so I skipped them and decided I would come back to it.The short questions were alright too, I always find there's the odd 1 or 2 that is just sickening. I said I'd chance my arm at the particle physics question, did I get it right ? Probably not. Am I bothered ? Not at all!I HATE fridges! Well those that don't have food in them anyway. But when I saw the heat question I said I'd go for it because I don't mind them really!Good ol' Marie made an appearance in question 9 and it's a good thing she did. I love me some nuclear physics!I tried the 'comprehension' yoke in question 11, but didn't read it … was I supposed to ?? The questions were grand, 'Richard of York gave battle in vain", came in handy, thanks Junior Cert!And well 12 wasn't the worst. In saying that I could've made a complete mess of it and it could give the SEC a reason to make foundation physics a thing but sure it's all water under the bridge!!After all that I finished experiment questions 2 and 3, after a handy rummage through the log tables to pick out useful formulae.At least it's over now , that's all I'll say. Chemistry, have a heart!!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 German
Emma- Higher Level
German, for a subject I have little stamina for it went surprisingly well! The first comprehension was a toughie but the rest of the paper was a dream with the grammar being a lot simpler than other years. The second comprehension was lovely, and I managed to squeeze everything in the letter!! The listening was fairly handy and overall I was pleased with the paper!! Hopefully this grade will make up for the awful bio paper!
Klara- Higher Level
Overall this paper was quite easy although it had some weird questions thrown in. The first reading comprehension was quite difficult and so it took me quite a while to do. The second was much easier. The grammar question was lovely- prepositions and question words, very easy. I ended up doing both Außerung zum Thema, both of which were very different from anything I had prepared, one was about old-fashioned shops and the second about prejudices against people wearing hoodies and trends. With the phrases I did know it was easy to answer, however. The letter also had some very strange questions such as why Ireland is chosen as a filming site. Overall though the questions were very easy to understand. The listening was great as well, I found the questions easy to answer. The first section was a bit hard to understand, but after a while I started to make sense of what they were saying.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 Construction Studies
Lorraine - Higher Level 
I have to say, I was feeling a little nervous about this exam. Even though the material on the paper each year is predictable in my opinion, I was still anxious enough going in. To be honest the exam is a little bit of a blur already.So I got the paper and quickly scanned through it to see what questions I would answer. Question 1 is compulsory so I got stuck into that first. The question was based on a porch where you had to draw the roof, window and lintel detail. Not the easiest of questions to start off with in my opinion but after some thought I made a good stab at it and was glad to have it out of the way.I then done the question on low environmental impact. I was absolutely delighted to see this question come up as I knew this really well. We were asked to chose 3 design features that ensures the house has a low environmental impact. Easy enough and nothing too difficult about that.I then moved on to the passive house question which was question 10. You had a choice between either part A or B. I chose part A as I felt I could answer this the best. It was about heat loss and storage gain in passive houses. I found this question ok and got through it in no time.U-values is a guaranteed question on the paper every year so I had prepared this really well. After practicing so many u-value questions, I wasn't overly happy with this question. I didn't find it as straight forward as other years but I'm confident that I gave it a good attempt and got a lot of the marks.The last question I done was based on a storeroom that was being converted into a home office. Handy enough question to be fair. We were asked to give 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of the storeroom being converted into a home office. Again nothing too difficult and I feel this was one of my better questions.I must say I was really hoping that wheelchair accessibility would come up on the paper as I knew this chapter inside out and I was quite disappointed that it didn't. Oh well!Overall the paper was pretty doable and gave up no surprises which I was delighted about.Now for the long wait till my the last exam, Ag Science.
Liam - Higher Level 
This was the day I was most looking forward to. I got up early, had some coco pops, poured myself a cup of coffee and did some quick revision before heading into my Construction studies exam later that evening.The construction exam is brilliant because you have so much choice! On the paper are ten questions, you only have to answer five which includes one compulsory drawing question. I was devastated to see that the flat roof came up as the drawing question, one of my least favorite chapters. I struggled my through it and onto the U-Value question. In my opinion U-Values are a straight 50 marks. They come up every year without fail and they’re almost always the same question.As I continued I was quite happy with the other choice questions. I did Q3, which was all about redesigning a house, it was a grand old question. I then swiftly moved onto Q4 a question which was about deciding where to put a house in a field, it was quite easy. Finally, I looked down at my watch to see that I had 36 minutes left, the perfect amount of time to answer my finale question, Q7, another drawing question but this time with a chimney and a slanted roof. I was delighted with this question and I finished it in no time at all.So all in all, I’m pretty happy with how that went. With only two exams left, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.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 Business
Craig - Higher Level 
So IDA doesn't stand for International Development Association - and my break even chart wasn't perfect, but by god what a nice exam. After such an exhausting few days - doing business this morning was somewhat relaxing! The ABQ on Units 2,3,4 were a little bit dodgy after question 1 as you'd struggle to quote from the text for question 2 and question 3 , but all in all - "its only business" and as predicted "twas grand".There was a lovely International Business Question on Question 3 - simply looking for us to demonstrate some basic knowledge on the benefits and disadvantages of TNCs in Ireland , while the People In Business Question was lovely - Performance, Agreement , Frustration Breach, a half a page on the NCA and a pretty basic question on Unfair Dismissals .The Breakeven question carried a lovely 40 marks for basic understanding of the topic, I think I pulled in the majority of marks here but the second break even point might have cost me a high grade over all, as I couldn't figure out how they should intersect which was a bit of a knock (honestly though at this stage I don't care I'm too bloody tired).Finally, the question on Planning Organising and Controlling was lovely - as predicted in the mocks - Matrix came up after that, I can hardly remember, but it was nice.The Short Questions weren't too bad either - I struggled with Job production (didn't touch that chapter) and I think the European questions might have had a wee trick in them but overall they were pretty nice - soothing, even.As a pointer for anyone who god forbid finds themselves reading this next year having to do French, History and then Business the next day, it's actually quite soothing. Today was a walk in the park compared to yesterday - safe to say the worst is over now!
Emma - Higher Level 
Business was an absolute lovely paper! Not what I was expecting at all. The short questions took me a bit of time to see what they actually wanted but I managed to get 9 done leaving out question number 1. I then went onto the ABQ and did the first part but realised I'd spent WAY too long explaining the skills, so I moved on to the long questions and left 4/5 pages to come back to the ABQ. The long questions were lovely but extremely long and they were asking for a lot in each part. I did 1, 4, 5, 7. I stayed away from anything financial or the break even chart because they take me forever. Once I finished those I had 25 mins to spare and I went back and did the rest of the ABQ. I'm lucky I write extremely fast but from reading others reactions, it is evident that not everyone has the ability to complete the paper in the given time. The business exam is a timing game, because most of the information is straightforward enough once you know it. 3 hours to write a booklet and 5 pages really really doesn't suffice and my fingers are still killing me!!But overall the paper was kind and I was extremely pleased leaving the exam, which is always a good sign! (I hope!) 2 more left!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 Art, History & Appreciation
Ela - Higher Level 
I was never confident with Art, hence why I didn't do it for the Junior Cert. But to be able to do a certain course I am interested in, I needed to do it for the Leaving. But it was too late because I already picked my subjects, so I had to complete the course outside of school so I had no clue what my classmates were covering in their art class. My strongest aspect of the Art exam was the practicals. I could do it all day, and after opting for craft, it did feel like all day. I took to the still life and life drawing like a duck to water. It was probably the most relaxed I've ever been in exam conditions. It couldn't have been better....then today happened.I wasn't confident with Art because I am useless at History, so you can imagine how my day went. However, my wish for a nice General Appreciation question was granted in the form of answering on a film based on a comic or graphic novel. I almost cried with happiness. I was in my spiritual home talking about the Avengers! I never would've imagined answering a question based on one of my favourite films so that was a handy question for the day. Then I flicked back to Section 1 and 2. I answered on High Crosses, or at least attempted to. I had quite a while to 'think' about the question because there was no chance of me being able to answer the European Art section. Heartbroken was the word, because I was so prepared for El Greco. So I did what I could in the situation I was in and I'm happy it's over. If it did go worse than I thought, I have that beaut of the Maths exam to fall back on. 9 exams down, 2 to go!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 French
Liam - Higher Level
Questions that I did. 1(b) , 2(a) and 4(b).Overall, I thought today went okay. I was delighted with the two reading comprehensions! The questions were okay to understand and even if they weren't, a good read through would help you there.I was banking on a récit because I really like them. Who doesn't love writing stories in French! Moral of my story , "trust those emails that say you've won a competition you don't remember entering!" Journal in time was grand too and then I did the obesity opinion question.Now it's time to talk about that absolute atrocity that we call the listening comprehension. Sorry SEC but our fluency in the French language is equal to that of a brick. I'd say French monoglots would have difficulty understanding that one too, but sure at least it's done.If you think about it, the French LC subject is like a balanced scale, if your reading comprehensions turn out to be easy, or even doable, you can always count on the listening test to just kick you right back to no mans land!
Craig - Higher Level
French wasn't too bad this year. I was awfully disappointed there was nothing on pollution though, and racism came up in a very odd form - celebrating the joys of multiculturalism. Instead I took on obesity, the question on education and the journal in time regarding a camping experience.I'm very meh about this paper, had it had other choices I think I could've jumped up at least two grades, which is sad but it's the luck of the draw - the leaving cert!
Ellen - Higher Level 
What a beautiful, beautiful paper. Even though none of my predictions (COP21, Euros & refugees) came up, I really couldn't have asked for better. The reading comprehensions were easier than normal I felt, and even the listening was grand! I was a bit worried going into the exam as I had never done le récit before but the essay on the importance was nice, so I needn't have worried. The journal in time and demand d'emploi were equally doable and in the end I did the letter, as well as the final question on obesity. 1916 made a surprise appearance, especially after expecting it in other subjects and being disappointed!But really I can't say a bad thing about that paper!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