It’s day five of the State exams with Leaving Cert students facing Irish paper two this morning, followed by biology in the afternoon.
Yesterday’s Irish paper one left students generally relieved, but not all expected topics appeared.
Follow our updates here with paper reviews to follow later.
Key reads
- Last-minute advice ahead of the Irish exams
- Ten tips for parents supporting an exam student this month
- Sign up for our Classroom to College newsletter
That’s it for today’s live Leaving Cert coverage.
I will be back here tomorrow morning for French and history.
If we missed anything, please get in touch by email: niamh.towey@irishtimes.com.
State Examinations Commission apologises for error
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has apologised for an error in today’s Leaving Certificate higher-level biology paper and says it will be taken into account in the marking scheme.
Question 16 (a), a genetics question, contained a mislabelling error in diagram B, the SEC said.
The four daughter cells in diagram B each had “2n”, when this should have been “n”.
A total of 36,946 candidates were entered to sit today’s Leaving Certificate biology examinations.
The exam is marked out of 400 marks. Question 16 (a) is worth a total of 30 marks and comprises five parts, (i) – (v).
The mislabelling of this diagram may have impacted candidates’ responses to parts (i) and (ii), worth a maximum of six marks each or 3 per cent of the examination total, the SEC said in a statement.
“The State Examinations Commission acknowledges that this error may have been a cause of confusion for some candidates. The SEC operates within the core principle that candidates cannot be disadvantaged due to an error on an examination paper.
“The SEC apologises to candidates impacted by this issue, noting that the impact on candidates’ answering will be fully taken into account by the chief examiner when finalising the marking scheme for this examination.
The marking scheme will, as usual, be published along with those in all other subjects after the issue of results in mid-August. Candidates will have the option of appealing their results," a spokeswoman for the SEC said.
Mistake in biology paper
While there has been a broadly positive reaction from students and teachers alike to this year’s biology papers, students will have been caught out by a significant mistake on the paper.
In question 16, students were asked about meiosis, with daughter cells labelled in an accompanying diagram as “2n”, when the examiner should have labelled them as simply “n”.
Emma Ronan, a biology and chemistry teacher at St Mary’s Secondary School, New Ross, Co Wexford, said this mistake was not flagged to students in her exam centre.
“Having spoken to my own, it definitely impacted their performance in that question,” she said.
When mistakes of this nature happen, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) adjusts the marking scheme to ensure no student is disadvantaged, but it nonetheless is likely to have unsettled and confused students.
The SEC has been contacted for comment.
The biology papers are now online:
Higher level A&B is here, and C is here
Ordinary level A&B is here, and C is here
Leaving Cert biology offers students plenty of choice, but next year’s cohort won’t be so lucky
Peter McGuire has his full paper review here:
There has been a broadly positive reaction from students and teachers alike to this year’s biology papers.
Emma Ronan, a biology and chemistry teacher at St Mary’s Secondary School, New Ross, Co Wexford, said the paper rewarded students who had engaged consistently with the course and who had developed a broad understanding of the subject.
“Overall, I felt this year’s higher-level biology paper was fair and accessible,” Ronan said.
“There was substantial choice throughout the paper. Students who wished to avoid particular areas such as plant biology or genetics could largely do so without being disadvantaged, allowing them to play to their strengths while still demonstrating a broad understanding of the course.”
Declan Cathcart, a biology teacher at TheTuitionCentre.ie, said that students with strong knowledge of definitions, labelled diagrams and core biological processes were well rewarded.
“Questions were generally clear and direct, although success still depended on genuine understanding rather than simple recall of isolated facts,” he said.
The significant coverage of units one and two stood out for Ronan.
“By my analysis, approximately 84.5 per cent of the paper could be answered using material from these two units alone,” she said.
“Students who had focused on developing a strong understanding of the foundational concepts in these units were therefore very well placed before even attempting questions from unit three.”
Ronan said that short questions contained a good balance of topics and were generally approachable for students.
“Section B was particularly student-friendly. The mandatory practical work was assessed in a clear and accessible manner, and students were given opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of experiments they would have encountered repeatedly throughout their studies,” she said.
Compared with several recent papers, Cathcart said there appeared to be less emphasis on unfamiliar stimulus material and data interpretation.
“The predator–prey graph questions in section C, while not especially unfamiliar, still required higher-order understanding and have historically proven challenging for many candidates.
“The practical content was also pretty predictable. The mix of mandatory practicals in question eight, together with the standard enzyme investigation in question nine, will likely have been welcomed by many candidates.”
He said that there were no surprises in the photosynthesis and respiration questions, and there was nothing tricky about the sex-linked genetic cross.
In section C, Ronan said that the genetics question was wordy but accessible when broken down, and the ecology question was particularly well balanced.
Liam Hennelly, a biology teacher at Belvedere College and Studyclix.ie subject expert, said that the paper was well constructed and student-friendly, with candidates having the choice of 11 out of 17 questions.
“From next year, under the new specifications, students will answer six out of seven questions, and this significant reduction in choice will be regrettable,” he said.
On the ordinary-level paper, Hennelly said that it offered a broad and accessible range of questions across many core topics.
“The short questions covered food, the scientific method, cell structure, natural selection, ecology, bacteria and the human breathing system – a familiar and manageable mix for students,” he said.
“The experiment‑based questions focused on cells and microscopy, immobilised enzymes, and transport in both humans and plants, all of which are standard practical areas that students would have encountered repeatedly in class.
“The long questions provided extensive choice, with options spanning ecology, genetics, respiration and photosynthesis, the human digestive system, human reproduction and microbiology, among other topics,” Hennelly said.
Are you an exam subject teacher? Please get in touch
We would like to speak to as wide a circle of teachers as possible about the exam papers.
If you are a teacher and have any views on the exam papers, good or bad, please get in touch.
You can email me, niamh.towey@irishtimes.com.
Higher-level biology ‘fair and accessible’ but with one ‘wordy’ question
This year’s higher-level biology paper was “fair and accessible” but had one particularly “wordy” question, according to a Co Wexford teacher.
Emma Ronan teaches biology and chemistry at St Mary’s Secondary School in New Ross.
“The paper rewarded students who had engaged consistently with the course and who had developed a broad understanding of the subject,” she said.
“One aspect that stood out to me was the significant coverage of units one and two. By my analysis, approximately 84.5 per cent of the paper could be answered using material from these two units alone. Students who had focused on developing a strong understanding of the foundational concepts in units one and two were therefore very well placed before even attempting questions from unit three,” she said.
Section B was “particularly student-friendly”, she said.
Meanwhile in section C, “the genetics question was wordy but accessible when broken down”.
Students may also have been relieved to see the return of human reproduction as a full 60-mark question.
“The female reproductive system featured as many teachers and students had anticipated, providing a familiar and accessible option,” Ronan said.
The breadth of choice across the paper meant students who wished to “avoid particular areas such as plant biology or genetics could largely do so without being disadvantaged”, she said.
“This allowed them to play to their strengths while still demonstrating a broad understanding of the course,” Ronan said.
Students are now one hour into the biology exam, which is due to finish at 5pm.
This afternoon marks the end of the core subjects, with English, Irish and maths now fully completed.
This will be a relief to pupils and parents alike, as the back is broken on the heaviest days of papers.
Some difficult language and science papers remain, but hopefully for most the long days with two exams are almost over.
We will be back with a paper review on biology shortly.
The Irish exam papers have now been published online.
Higher-level paper two is here
Ordinary-level paper two is here
Leaving Cert Irish paper two: Widely anticipated texts deliver relief around exam centres
The Irish paper two exam is now over and Peter McGuire has some early reaction to the paper:
There were few surprises on a fair and manageable higher-level Irish paper two, according to early reaction from Stephen Doyle, Studyclix.ie subject expert.
Doyle, who is a teacher at Moyle Park College, said the paper was accessible.
“The texts that appeared were widely expected and the questions were straightforward, giving students plenty of opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding,” he said.
He said that reading comprehensions – one focusing on Sr Stan and the other on the issue of fast fashion – were topical and relevant, while the grammar section presented no significant difficulties for those who had put in the work.
“A sigh of relief would have been heard around many exam centres as the much-anticipated cáca milis and dís appeared in the prós section. Students had a choice between the two texts and the questions were very straightforward, focusing mainly on characters and their traits. The filíocht section was equally predictable, with An tEarrach Thiar and Mo Ghrá-sa (Idir Lúibíní) appearing on the paper. The questions focused on imagery and students’ understanding of the poems, rewarding those who had prepared them well.
The final litríocht bhreise section also offered considerable choice.
“An Triail and A Thig Ná Tit Orm examined main characters and their experiences, while Gafa asked students to explore family relationships and the consequences of choices made within them,” Doyle said.
“Canary Wharf invited discussion of how a character overcame difficulties."
Doyle said all of these questions were accessible and allowed students to draw on a strong knowledge of their chosen text.
“Overall, this was a very fair paper with no major surprises,” Doyle said.
Good news for ordinary level students too?
At ordinary level, the mood was similarly positive. The reading comprehensions covered Ráth Chairn and the music group The Corrs, and both were manageable, said Doyle.
“The prose section offered a choice between Cáca Milis, Dís and Hurlamaboc, with students answering on two of the three texts.
“The poetry section featured Géibheann, An tEarrach Thiar and An Spailpín Fánach, again requiring answers on two poems.”
Doyle said that both sections were in line with previous years and rewarded those who had prepared well.
“This was a fair and manageable paper that gave ordinary-level students plenty of opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding successfully,” Doyle said.
We’ll have a full review of the Irish papers later.
The Leaving Certificate is a slog. Lots of preparation. Lots of research. Lots of hours spent familiarising oneself with the various subjects. And oh so much writing. And that’s just The Irish Times journalists in preparation for our State exams coverage.
But it’s certainly no walk in the park for students, as reader Alan Bonny rightly points out over on today’s letters page:
Sir, – Why does The Irish Times give so much coverage to the Leaving Certificate exams?
With all the pressure students feel at this time of year, it does not help that so much attention is put on the exams. It also unnecessarily feeds into the (problematic) view that the Leaving Cert is the be-all and end-all for students finishing secondary school. – Yours, etc,
ALAN BONNY,
Ballinteer,
Dublin 16.
It’s not quite a case of misery loving company, but it can be helpful to read about others going through the same experiences, sometimes in different ways. The Leaving Certificate is not the be-all and end-all for students and in our continuing coverage we’ll be looking at the very many different options open to students when the exams are over.
And yes, we’re all counting down to the exams being over.
“An ‘exponential’ increase in schoolchildren getting exemptions from Irish is denying them part of their identity, is not inclusive of children with additional needs or born abroad, and is out of sync with how other European countries teach minority languages”. That’s according to a report published on Tuesday.
Our Social Affairs Correspondent, Kitty Holland, explains: “Irish exemptions are granted for two main reasons – pupils having a learning disability or having had their primary education abroad.”
The report says children exempted from Irish are being denied “the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, a deeper insight into their heritage, part of their identity, the career and social opportunities ... from an ability in Irish, the opportunity to attend a Gaeltacht course, and the opportunity to help their own children with their Irish homework in the future”.
You can read Kitty’s full piece here
I spoke with the mother of a dyslexic child about why her daughter is at home sorting the clothes in her wardrobe, rather than sitting the Junior Cycle exams.
“When people hear the word dyslexia they think, ‘Oh, they just can’t spell properly’. And that’s the biggest misconception of dyslexia ever. Because dyslexia is so much more,” Sophie’s mother Kate told me.
The lack of understanding makes life very difficult for adults and children, Kate says. “Especially school life, when you’re all put into the same box, are expected to know the same things, be able to learn the same things, and that’s just not the case.”
Sophie struggled to keep up with her school work in secondary school and began to stop attending. “She was getting sick every day from the anxiety. She was having panic attacks in school.”
Sophie should be doing her Junior Cert exams, but instead she’s sorting out her wardrobe https://t.co/CfNbQ9NIlY pic.twitter.com/8u7z4oPppG
— Irish Times Education (@IrishTimesEdu_) June 9, 2026
Kate discusses making the difficult decision that Sophie wouldn’t sit the exams, and how her daughter feels about it.
“She’s embarrassed not to be sitting the exams,” says Kate, especially as people have asked her why. Sophie has given various excuses to those who ask. “She’s trying to find a way to avoid people thinking she’s not clever.”
You can read the full piece here
Following the unexpected piano-tuning question on maths paper one, Gary Woods, a fifth-generation piano tuner, on our letters page, reassures students that maths shouldn’t put them off pursuing a piano-tuning career.
Play it, Gary.
Sir, – I am writing regarding your coverage by Peter McGuire of the Leaving Cert mathematics exam and the piano-tuning question (“Leaving Cert maths, paper one: A song and dance about a bum note”, Education, June 5th).
I recall my first day learning to tune pianos when our lecturer discussed the physics of string tension, different partial series and which beats to listen for to ensure enough tension was added per string per note for a correct piano tuning.
Following this class, I panicked given how low I scored in my Leaving Cert maths exam. Many years and pianos later, I can assure students not to be put off the piano-tuning trade. As with all careers, once you know what to listen for, you will be okay. – Yours, etc,
GARY WOODS,
Fifth-generation piano tuner,
Clane,
Co Kildare.
Good morning. It’s day five of the Leaving Certificate exams and Irish paper two is under way this morning, with biology to follow this afternoon.
After a generally well-received Paper one yesterday, albeit with a surprise omission, students will be hoping for something similar from paper two today.
We’ll have the exam papers and reviews for you later this morning.
