Maths is one of the more challenging subjects offered to students within the leaving cert cycle. Unfortunately for the majority of students who aren’t extremely gifted in the realm of mathematics, it is a core subject across secondary level education meaning that it is compulsory for all students.
Due to the subject being compulsory for all students across the country, students may opt to study maths at a level which suits their ability.
There are three levels offered for students to take the subject at for leaving cert, ordinarily, there are only two options for the majority of leaving cert subject. The maths course extends to provide students with a higher level, ordinary level and foundation level course to prepare them for their examination at the end of the two years.
Higher-level maths is perhaps the most difficult subject that students can study in secondary school education. The course can seem daunting for students for wondering which level to sit for their leaving cert maths exam.
With the recent shift to the project maths course across Irish secondary schools, the department of education aimed to increase the number of students who sat the higher level paper across the country.
A points incentive was introduced whereby an additional 25 CAO points are awarded to students that achieve honours in the higher level paper as well as some points for achieving a passing grade. For students studying the higher level paper check out how to pass the exam.
This incentive served to increase the proportion of students who took up higher-level maths at secondary school and provided an attractive incentive for students to take up the challenge.
In this article, I will provide a guide as to how you should prepare for the higher level maths exam so that you can avail of these valuable points and ultimately broaden your horizons for post leaving cert life.
Maths is a subject that surfaces some invaluable learnings throughout its course while developing many of the core competencies and skills which are highly sought after by employers. Students will develop vital reasoning and problem-solving skills necessary throughout a vast array of career paths and walks of life.
The opportunities and doors which mathematics opens for students are endless and whether you need higher level maths as a minimum entry requirement for your undergraduate course or could simply use the additional points I will walk you through what it is you need to do to get over the line and pass the final exam in June.
Where should I begin?
So you’ve decided to take the challenge and dive into higher-level maths. Now, you’re probably asking yourself a lot of questions, one of which is presumably related to where you should begin your preparations, if so you’ve come to the right place.
I typically advise students to start from the basics and work their way up, developing their skills by working through maths questions and worked through solutions. It is important to trust the process, this is an extensive course and it is easy to get lost or bogged down in the sheer volume of material associated with higher-level maths.
For this reason, I advise students to avoid purchasing additional resources and courses until they have first familiarised themselves with the core leaving cert material. While often perceived as an attractive shortcut to learning, students need to realise that however useful, these are supplementary resources.
To get the maximum value from both your money and learning, you should first consult your core leaving cert textbook to gain the necessary preliminary knowledge before turning to additional sources.
This is a textbook that has been purposefully constructed to contain all of the necessary material associated with the higher level leaving cert project maths course so you can be sure not to miss any important topics.
These books also follow a practical structure that introduces concepts before building on the associated theory while providing questions for students to practice and build on their abilities.
This brings me to the next step for preparing for the higher-level paper. I can’t stress the importance of neat and purposeful note-taking enough to students. Being a recent leaving cert student myself, I can remember taking notes in some classes for the sake of it and being left with pages of messy notes that I could never really go back to.
Your notes are for you and you only, they shouldn’t be viewed as a means of satisfying your teacher and should be created with care and a degree of pride. Believe me, you will thank yourself when you begin revising for your exam and have a useful catalogue containing the most salient points for each chapter.
I recommend keeping a maximum of three worked-through examples for each topic followed by an example of an exam-style question for the respective chapter.
So how else can you prepare for the higher level paper?
So now that you have worked your way through the core resources and actively learned through practising examples and writing out notes on the leaving cert chapters. I always explain to my students the importance of preparing for the exam and not just its associated material.
When I say this I mean that it is important for students to consider that many of the questions that they will find throughout their textbooks are there to teach you the concepts of the respective chapters and build on your knowledge.
Many of these questions you will have become familiar with from working your way through chapters will most likely not appear on your higher-level leaving the cert exam. Students will find that there is a particular style which exam questions typically follow for each topic and therefore it is equally important that you begin practising answering exam-style questions.
This will make sure that when you are in the exam hall in June, you will not see the question for the first time. Part of preparing for the leaving cert higher level maths exam is familiarising yourself with the structure of both papers, the topics which appear, and the time that you should allocate to each question.
After spending the guts of two years studying for the exam, it would be a shame for you to simply run either over or out of time on the day. The most effective way to ensure that this doesn’t happen is quite simple... time management!
This involves having an understanding of exactly how many minutes you have to complete each section and practising completing exam-style questions from your leaving cert exam papers so that you can use your time in the exam hall as productively as possible, leave yourself time to go over the paper before handing it up and ultimately maximise your grade in the subject.
Supplementary resources you may find beneficial
Studyclix is a useful resource for leaving cert maths students. Studyclix maths will help you with all your maths questions, they provide worked-through maths problems across all of the course’s topics from long division sums to the more complex maths problems such as differentiation.
Students might also wish to supplement their perpetrations for the higher level maths course with condensed revision books such as the ‘Less Stress, More Success’ and ‘Revise Wise’ leaving cert series. These books offer students a more compact overview of the material and portray information in a more accessible format for students to digest, which is particularly helpful during the lead-up to exams.
If you are struggling to answer some of the questions from past higher-level maths papers, you may also find value in online resources such as Sparknotes. Here you can find leaving cert maths solutions uploaded by fellow students and leaving cert teachers, as well as some useful study cards which provide helpful summaries particularly for the more extensive chapters of the course.
There are plenty of effective study resources available for higher-level maths students that you should definitely check out!
If you follow this guide and develop your maths ability from the bottom up and place sufficient attention to exam preparation and practice solving equations under exam conditions you will certainly put yourself in a position to ace the higher level maths paper!
Find a maths tutor with Superprof
Having a mentor to work through leaving cert maths solutions with is perhaps one of the more effective methods for preparing for that final exam. Superprof is a platform that pairs students with tutors for their desired subject. Here you will find an abundance of qualified tutors to choose from to help you on your journey to achieving your potential in leaving cert maths.
Students have the option to select their tutor based on their rate, this makes sure that you find the best fit for your budget. The hourly rate of maths tutors in Ireland typically varies from about €8 right up to €30, with some tutors offering a reduced rate for 5 or 10-hour packages.
The majority of Irish maths tutors also offer their first lesson for free, giving leaving cert students the opportunity to try out the service before making any commitments. Get your study off on the right foot today and try out a tutor with Superprof!
here are some of the maths tutors available to you in Ireland.
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