The big LC has rolled into town for another year, and that means that we are back with the Leaving Cert Diary 2024.
Thanks to our friends at the Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU) we will hear from the young people who have just sat their exams, who tell us in their own words how it all went for them.
Don't forget to check out RTÉ Learn for help and advice over the coming weeks!
You can see the exam papers here:
The first instalment features Enioluwafe and Eabha on English Paper 1, while Iffah doubled up with English and Home Ec. Massive thanks to them for taking the time to share their thoughts.
Iffah Rahmat - Our Lady's Bower
Hi everyone, Iffah here! Today I had two exams, English Paper 1 and Home Economics, quite a busy start to the Leaving Cert season for me!
I was really pleased with how English Paper 1 turned out, the variety of comprehensions along with the variety of Question B compositions were great. I felt I wasn't trapped to one singular text and question which was nice seeming as it was my first exam.
For me, I find personal essays most easiest to do so for the composing piece, I was happy to see the two different but equal in challenge personal essay assignments which I got to choose from. Overall I am happy with the paper itself and the fair amount of choice that was given.
On the other hand, Home Ec was a bit of a rollercoaster for me! Firstly the short questions were standard and I was able to get through them fairly decent. I was a bit shocked to see the choice that was given for section B, with some being topics that appeared in our journals. Some questions I really liked such as the family studies and pregnancy.
I feel the variety for the core wasn't too great and I wasn't too pleased to see margarine on it, but I was lucky as to have glanced at the section right before my exam! I am glad that both exams are finished and now it is onto the next!
Enioluwafe Jamgbadi - Our Lady's Bower
Honestly, I was a bundle of nerves going into that exam. English Paper 1 isn't the hardest exam out there but it being the first exam had my mind racing. Overall the paper was quite good but when I first opened it I wanted to scream.
The first thing I did was look at the Question B options and it wasn't really what I expected. I was raging about the absence of a talk/speech. The collection of diary entries really threw me off and in the end I settled for the dialogue which when I started writing wasn't really hard to do.
I chose question A in Text 2. All the Question A options were really good in my opinion but this one I liked the best. It was the classic question our teacher had gone over with us, no surprises, so there was no worry there.
Lastly, the composition was spectacular. I loved the personal essay and short stories which were the two ones I prepared for and in the end I did the short story set among strangers on an eventful train. The paper was a nice way to ease into the whole load of exams and it has kind of calmed my nerves a bit.
Eabha Kelly - Calasanctius College Oranmore
Well... that's the first one down, only nine to go! Like most students, I didn't sleep very well, I was tossing and turning, trying to remember the different features of language at 1 am and expecting the worst.
In reality, it was a fair paper with no real curveballs. The question As were really straightforward. The Question B options were slightly strange - no letter, email or speech/talk, and the compositions were as expected really. After that nervous first look through the paper, I settled into it. I found that the time flew. 2 hours 50 minutes feels like an age, but under pressure, it felt like no time at all.
Luckily, I finished the paper with 10 minutes to spare, as did most of my friends. I chose to do the personal
essay option with the title 'write a personal essay in which you reflect on your relationship with the natural world’. It was a lovely, broad title and I found it easy to write about.
Overall, I'm just relieved that the first exam is over without any major disasters! Now the focus shifts to English Paper 2 tomorrow afternoon and how many Hamlet quotes I can memorise in 24 hours!
Founded in 2008, the ISSU is the national representative body for school students in the Republic of Ireland. The ISSU is led by students, for students.
