Leaving Cert diary: ‘More time, more choice, more change please’

Exam diary

More time, more choice. Those have been the phrases of this year’s Leaving Cert following the changes brought in as a result of the pandemic.

Before the announcement was made about the changes to the format, we’d been used to writing answers out by hand in as quick a time as possible.

Having the same amount of time but fewer questions to answer has made such a difference. In my maths exam, I was able to concentrate, look over my answers and not feel so rushed.

I couldn’t imagine having to do the exams the way they used to be. There will never be a time in your life where you need to learn so much information and write it out in such a tight time period. I think it’s shown how bad the previous system was and I don’t think it would be fair to go back to it.

Leaving Cert Irish paper 2: Brexit and BLM feature on ‘fair and manageable’ paper

---

Leaving Cert Irish paper 1: Broad welcome for Irish papers

---

Micheál Martin on the Leaving: ‘It’s fair but doesn’t measure the breadth of a person’s ability’

---

Leaving Cert: Schools confident students will respect Covid measures as exams get under way

---

That said, the class of 2021 has endured a lot. The first lockdown was the worst. We went from in-class learning to everything being online, with the teachers and students going through a steep learning curve and not everyone having great broadband to do our work.

Unable to see friends

We didn’t know when schools would be open again and we missed a lot of learning while, at the same time, we weren’t able to see our friends. It was fair to do the exams differently this year.

I was happy walking out of Irish paper two because we had more time and more choice. I answered one reading comprehension and then focused on the poem Géibheann, which I’d been hoping would show up.

I was very happy with biology. I liked the questions that came up and I finished up early, which gave me time to do an additional long question as a back up. I really liked the genetics question.

I’ve two exams left, French and physics. I’m hoping for something topical on the French paper, and I’ve a week before physics. I’m glad to have that break; it will give me time to study – and to catch my breath.

• Aoife Walsh is a Leaving Cert student at Castlecomer Community School, Co Kilkenny.