The Leaving Certificate subjects that a student chooses can have a significant impact on how well they perform in the exam. Some are necessary for admission to specific third-level courses, while others are never needed.
You will likely have the choice to study seven subjects at your school. Your point score for entrance into college courses will be determined by taking your best six grades from the Leaving Certificate or its equivalent in one session. You will therefore need to cover more content the more subjects you choose to study.
You may prefer the option of taking six higher-level papers if you plan to take more than one ordinary level paper during your two-year Leaving Cert program.
Only by adding a second topic, either in school or outside of it, can you do this. Before choosing this course of action, you must exercise extreme caution. There is no such thing as an easy higher-level paper, and each topic demands a significant amount of work and effort.
You must account for the time spent getting to and from the extra subject if it is being studied outside of school. All of this time and effort takes away from the time you have to work on the seven academic subjects you are now learning.
You should aim to apply for your courses by February, so it is important to get all of the information you need. Ask students that have done your college course about the level of the material, the required points, and general information about their education in the college.
Have a scroll through this article on filling out your CAO application.
Selecting Suitable Subjects for you!
The leaving cert program will take up two years of your life as a student. These two years can be made an awful lot longer if you wind up studying subjects that you have no real interest in.
It is important to study subjects that you like if you are going to stand any chance of maintaining a sustainable study plan.
Make sure to take note of the leaving cert amendments that are being made in the 2024 exams so that you know what to expect on the big day!
It is equally important to decide on subjects that are suited to your strengths and preferred learning style. You might also want to take a look at the courses or jobs that might come from pursuing an education in the subject after the leaving cert. Let’s take economics for example!
The subject is primarily suited to students who might see themselves entering business and research-oriented roles in the future. It is also worth noting that by pursuing an education in economics after school you are by no means confining yourself to a select branch of potential careers.
The subject is largely considered to be one of the more secure and broad that you can study after secondary school once you've finished your Junior Cert and Leaving Cert. Believe me when I say that this is something that will stand to you when you get around to navigating the job market.
By studying economics you will be presented with a vast selection of different careers which you will be able to enter when you finish up your studies. This means that you will have some choice when it comes to getting your first job or internship.
The subjects that students choose to study in fifth and sixth year at school, will help them to have a better understanding when they start their university course. It can also help students to make their decision in choosing their preferred universities, courses, subject levels or even the right career.
If you want to choose the right degree or university, you will also need to spend time outside of your school subjects and courses to complete your CAO application. This is an important application form that will dictate the course that you study and the subjects that you do at university.
Here is some information that will help you to form your leaving cert study plan.
Choosing what you are going to study in school
You can always choose more subjects, but you will be giving yourself a lot of work to get through! You can also pile up the study on weekends by adding a second subject, either within or outside of school. Before selecting this route, you must exercise extreme caution.
There are no simple higher level papers, and every subject demands a significant amount of your work and effort. It takes a lot of work to cover eight topics.
You must account for the time spent travelling to and from such a grind if the additional subject is being studied outside of school. Your time to work on the seven educational subjects you are learning is being taken up by all of this time and effort.
In order to give yourself the best chance of pursuing further education down the road, you should try to choose a diverse variety of disciplines. English, math, and Irish are what most pupils learn. The vast majority of pupils additionally learn a language from another continent!
To ensure that you meet the minimal subject entry requirements for all programmes provided through the CAO, you should carefully review the key topics for entry to every third level course, which are available online at qualifax.ie, before choosing your remaining three subjects.
My recommendation is that you distribute your final three topic selections throughout the broad range of business, scientific, liberal arts, and practical areas, unless you have a particular career or course interest that is directing your other subject selections.
When making these decisions, you should also keep in mind the outcomes of prior exams and aptitude test results.
Choosing the right subjects at university can improve your overall grade at school and help you to get into the top universities.
It will also make it easier to choose the subjects that you will study after school such as in university or even in starting your career. Your school subjects will give you an idea of what levels you want to study at when choosing universities.
Read more about how to jump up a few grades in your leaving cert exams here!
Understanding what you need from the leaving cert
A student may need to take a variety of disciplines in order to enrol in third level, yet frequently these prerequisites are simpler than initially anticipated. Students should think about what they like and are good at for around 80% of their time, and then think about what they need for the remaining 20%.
If students have ideas for what they want to study after high school, they should thoroughly explore the prerequisites for these programs at numerous institutions.
If students are still unsure about what they want to study at the third level, they should look into the prerequisites for a variety of fields and take into account similar themes.
Students can do this on the website qualifax.ie, where they can type in keywords to get a list of pertinent courses and their descriptions. When deciding which courses to take in the areas of languages, sciences, and technical topics, students should take special care.
Many courses at university may require you to have achieved a specific grade in another subject. Some degree entry requirements will differ between universities depending on the country that they are in and the demand for a space in the course.
These requirements may also fluctuate to some degree between each academic year, this is because of the change in the amount of students that applied for the course in a given year and the lowest result achieved by a successful applicant.
For some courses, students might need to have achieved a minimum grade of a H5 in the higher level leaving cert maths paper to be accepted in the program.
This is not the case for all courses, although if you wish to study a related field such as applied physics, it is sometimes necessary to have achieved this grade in the higher level leaving cert physics paper.
This is often the case when applying for colleges abroad. In Ireland, we use the CAO points system to enter third level education. In situations where you are applying for a course in a university abroad, it is likely that they use a different points system to assess the suitability of their candidates.
Have a look at this guide to the leaving cert course.
Where can you learn more about your subjects?
There are plenty of additional resources available to students to help take some of that weight off their shoulders and unlock their full academic potential.
Some useful resources for the leaving cert program that are available to you when preparing for the final leaving cert exam are revision books such as ‘Less Stress, More Success’ and ‘Revise Wise’, as well as online recourses such as Studyclix.ie and Sparknotes.com.
Using these resources to prepare for your exams can prove extremely beneficial though should not be used as a substitute for the course textbook and exam papers, but rather as a means of supplementing your learning.
It's important to work smart as well as hard, always consider the leaving cert timetable when you are drafting your study plans.
Again understanding what you need is important, if you only need a passing grade in a subject that you are not counting towards your leaving cert points, then perhaps you don’t need to fork out money revising this subject. It is important that you prioritize accordingly!
Millions of instructors from all around the world are members of the Superprof community. Leaving cert students who want to maximize their results in the subject have no shortage of tutors to choose from. Students can benefit greatly from receiving preparation advice from a mentor.
Since you cannot choose your leaving cert teacher for the two years, having the chance to choose your favourite tutor after taking advantage of a free trial session enables pupils to find a tutor who complements their desired learning style.
Most instructors provide their initial lesson for free, allowing leaving cert students to test out the service before committing. One of the best ways to get ready for the final test is by working through the leaving cert solutions with a second mentor. They will likely be able to help you in your decision-making process too!
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