There's a common misconception that failing Leaving Cert Maths is different to failing other subjects.
Since maths is compulsory for the Leaving Cert, a lot of students think that failing Leaving Cert Maths means that you don't get your Leaving Cert at all.
While we can confirm that this is a myth and you can still get your Leaving Cert if you fail maths, there's more to it than that.
Here, we'll explain how marking works for the Leaving Cert, what a "fail" actually is (and if it even exists), what happens if you do "fail" Leaving Cert Maths, and how you can avoid failing.
Here are some tips for making sure you can excel at Leaving Cert Maths
How Does Leaving Cert Marking Work?
The Leaving Cert marking system is needlessly complicated so we'll try and make it simpler. Students studying Leaving Cert will take various exams for each of their Leaving Cert subjects.
This includes maths, English, and Irish, which are all compulsory subjects.
Once their exams have been marked, percentages are calculated and students are given a grade based on the percentage, the subject, and the level.
They're also given points from the Central Applications Office (CAO) for use when applying to university.
Here's how they all work.
Leaving Cert Percentage Marks
The percentage marks are the easiest to calculate. If you're studying Leaving Cert Maths, you should be able to work out percentages, but if not, it's quite simple.
Take the total number of marks the student got, divide it by the total number of marks available, and multiply by 100.
Both Paper 1 and Paper 2 for Leaving Cert Maths are 300 marks. Say a student got 225 marks on the exam.
This would be 225 divided by 300 and then multiplied by 100. Or 225/300 x 100. This would give the student a percentage score of 75%.
Of course, with two papers to consider, the percentage score for the subject would be their total marks divided by the total marks available across the papers multiplied by 100.
Leaving Cert Grading Scale
Once a student's Leaving Cert exams and assessments have been marked and given their percentage marks, students are given a grade.
Before 2017, there was a 14-point scale, but now students' results are put into one of seven bands.
The bands are numbered from 1 to 8 and preceded by H or O depending on whether the student took the higher or ordinary level.
| Grades | % Marks |
|---|---|
| H1/O1 | 90 - 100 |
| H2/O2 | 80 - 90 |
| H3/O3 | 70 - 80 |
| H4/O4 | 60 - 70 |
| H5/O5 | 50 - 60 |
| H6/O6 | 40 - 50 |
| H7/O7 | 30 - 40 |
| H8/O8 | 0 - 30 |
CAO Points
Once students' percentages and grades have been calculated, this is where the Central Applications Office steps in. The Central Applications Office is responsible for university applications for undergraduate courses in Irish Higher Education Institutions. Basically, they deal with university applications for students doing the Leaving Cert.
The CAO allocates points to a student's results based on the grades they have and a student's best six exams in a single sitting are used in the calculation.
| Higher Level Grade | Points | Ordinary Level Grade | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | 100 | ||
| H2 | 88 | ||
| H3 | 77 | ||
| H4 | 66 | ||
| H5 | 56 | O1 | 56 |
| H6 | 46 | O2 | 46 |
| H7 | 37 | O3 | 37 |
| H8 | 0 | O4 | 28 |
| O5 | 20 | ||
| O6 | 12 | ||
| O7 | 0 | ||
| O8 | 0 |
For example, the highest grade available, H1, is given 100 points. The lowest grades are given 0 points.
Since Higher Level and Ordinary Level offer different challenges, the points awarded for each aren't the same.
The highest Ordinary Level (O1) grade is given 56 points while the two lowest (O7 and O8) are both given 0 points.
The Higher Level grades H1 through to H7 are all awarded points and only the H8 grade is given 0 points.
Bonus Points
Due to its difficult nature, there are also 25 bonus points available for Higher Level Maths for students that achieve a grade above H6.
This means a total of 125 points are available for Leaving Cert Maths and the best CAO score a student can get for their Leaving Cert is 625, though a student not taking Higher Level Leaving Cert Maths would only be mathematically able to achieve 600 points.
In either case, these are both very good results for the student and are enough to get them onto most undergraduate university courses.
University Admissions
For Irish students to apply to university or third-level education in Ireland, most will go through the Central Applications Office (CAO).
Institutions include the four National University of Ireland (NUI) universities, the University of Dublin (Trinity College Dublin), the University of Limerick (UL), Dublin City University (DCU), and the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
There are also 5 technological universities and 2 institutes of technology.
Students have to pay somewhere between €30 and €60 for their applications for 2024-2025 based on the time they apply, with discounts for earlier applications.
What Is a Fail at Leaving Cert?
There isn't really a fail at Leaving Cert. Instead, students are awarded 0 points for certain grades (as we saw earlier) and how many points you need depends on the course you're applying for.
For example, the Mathematics course at Trinity College Dublin requires at least 589 CAO points and not every applicant at this level was given a place.
You wouldn't be able to fail a single subject and get this many points. After all, even getting 100 points in every other subject would give you 500. If you passed maths and got the 125 points (including the bonus points) and received 0 points in another subject, you still wouldn't have enough points.
However, to study religion, Trinity only requires 343 points, which means you could technically get 0 points in two of the six subjects, provided you achieved very high grades in the other four.
What Happens If You "Fail" Maths in the Leaving Cert?
In short, nothing really special happens if you “fail” maths in the Leaving Cert. You'll be given 0 points for maths but there are still courses you'll have enough points for.
It's not great for your application on a maths course to have 0 points for Leaving Cert Maths, but your maths results at Leaving Cert won't automatically make you “fail”.
Repeating the Leaving Cert
If you're unhappy with your results, can't get on the university course you want, or are just looking to improve, then you can always repeat the Leaving Cert, spending more time studying and using better study resources.
This will mean that you'll have to do the other subjects, too, and you can't just repeat Leaving Cert Maths to improve your grades.
Fortunately, even if you repeat the Leaving Cert and end up with a lower CAO score, your previous and higher score is still accepted. If your CAO score improves, universities will accept the more recent score.
Other Options Post-Secondary
You mightn't even need to go to university or attend third-level education. While maths is certainly one of the more academic subjects available for the Leaving Cert, you might decide to do something else for your career.
There are lots of options for students who've finished their Leaving Cert and while university is often presented as the “best” option, what's right for one person mightn't be right for another.
If you don't get the CAO points needed to get into university, you always have other options.
Appealing the Results
You can appeal your Leaving Cert results, but this is only if you believe there's been an error in the grading process.
You can't just appeal results because you didn't get the results that you wanted!
How Can You Study for Leaving Cert Maths?
The best way to get the results that you want for Leaving Cert Maths is by studying the topics that are on the syllabus, familiarising yourself with the exam format, and adequately preparing for the exams.
Resources for Studying Leaving Cert Maths
The first resource you should look to is the Leaving Cert Maths syllabus as this includes every mathematical topic (called "strands" on the syllabus) that you need to know.
Your teachers should also know what's on the syllabus and have planned the course and their lessons according to it. However, it's also good for you to know what you'll be expected to have studied for the exam.
You should also look to past papers and mock exams as this is what you're really being tested on; your ability to answer the questions and problems on the Leaving Cert Maths Paper 1 and Paper 2.
There are plenty of websites with past papers, flashcards, notes, and tutorials for Leaving Cert Maths.
Get Help from a Private Tutor
You can also enlist the help of a private maths tutor. On the Superprof website, you just have to search maths and you can start browsing the profiles of both local and online tutors.
Since you'll be studying maths specifically for the Leaving Cert, it makes sense to look for local tutors or online tutors who are familiar with the Leaving Cert.
Many of the tutors offer the first lesson for free so you can try a few out before choosing the tutor that's right for you.
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