The living hell of the Leaving

Three Leaving Cert students tell Louise Holden how they are coping in the run-up to the exams

Daire MacNamara

Blackrock College, Dublin

My day starts at 6.45am when I get up and begin an hour of study before breakfast. I'm boarding in Blackrock and our whole days are structured around study at this stage. After breakfast I start class - we can pick and choose which classes we want to take now, according to which subjects we need to concentrate on.

The normal school timetable finished last week. When classes finish at 4pm, I take a 15-minute break before going back to the library to study for an hour before tea. By 6pm I'm back in the library and will study until 10.15pm. I go to bed at 10.30pm.

I've been doing supervised study all year for three hours a night and since Easter we've been studying for four hours a night. At weekends I do a total of eight hours over Saturday and Sunday. These days I try to fit in the odd game of soccer in the time between classes and tea. That's our only official free period but I usually just study at that time as well.

It's a very full schedule but I don't mind. I figure I'll have three fairly relaxed years in college ahead of me so I don't mind putting in the time now. I need to do very well in certain subjects to get what I want - Business and Legal in UCD or Business Economic and Social Studies in TCD.

The points for Business and Legal were 505 last year but they're expected to jump to 515 this year. I don't expect to get that many points but it's my first choice anyway. I've put Commerce down third.

I'm looking for an A1 in Economics and Business Studies, which are my strongest subjects. I need to get a minimum of B3 in both Irish and Spanish or my first choices are out the window.

I'm taking a grind in Irish. It doesn't matter how good your teacher is - sometimes a 40-minute class is just not enough. I took a couple of extra classes in maths because I need a B3 for the courses I want.

I'm not as focused as I would like to be. I don't think I put in as much time as some of my classmates. I like to think that my two hours are as productive as another student's five. I hope I'm not wrong.

Next year should be easier. I won't be playing rugby so I won't have to be so disciplined.

I expect the regime in college will be a lot more relaxed, too. I can't wait until all this is over. It has been the hardest year of my life.

Sarah McGoldrick

Ashford Community School, Co Wicklow

I'm a crammer. I didn't do much study at all until the last two months. I tried to study more regularly but I get distracted too easily. I can read a passage of Irish over and over again and not remember anything.

Now that the exams are getting really close I find that the pressure is helping me to focus. The deadlines keep me at the books. I still do plenty of socialising - hanging out with my friends is the biggest distraction of all. I work at the local animal sanctuary which absorbs a lot of my time as well.

I've kept up my part-time job at the sanctuary because I really enjoy it and I want to do veterinary nursing in college. The points are 330 for UCD which is not too high so I don't feel panicked about the exams at all. If I don't get UCD I've put down plenty of other choices relating to careers working with animals from diplomas to PLC courses so I know I'll get what I want in the end.

My one problem subject is Home Economics. I need to get a C or higher to study veterinary nursing at UCD and I'm not looking forward to the exam at all. I'm feeling pretty confident about maths and accountancy. I moved from honours to ordinary level maths so I think I should be okay for that exam.

At this stage I'm studying for about seven hours a day. I start at 10am and work right through until about 5pm, with about three 15-minute breaks in between.

I can stick at the books for long periods when I'm focused - two hours at a time. I always take Sundays off.

I don't have a particularly planned approach to study - I just keep writing shorter summaries of my notes. I study in the local public library in Ashford because there are too many distractions at home. My parents are supportive but they don't interfere too much.

I avoid hanging out with school friends at the moment. There's too much exam talk and I don't think it's helpful. We just wind each other up.

Some of my classmates are quite pressured and are now studying for 12 hours a day.

I avoid stressed people. When I hang out with friends who are already in college there's no mention of the Leaving Cert and I can really switch off.

While some of my school friends are in a panic about the exams, they are in the minority; I'd say about 10 per cent. The rest are not stressed at all - or if they are, they're not showing it.

I'm feeling pretty relaxed, and hopefully that won't change between now and the exams.

Eanna Brennan

St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin

With just over a week left until the Leaving Cert I'm feeling pretty calm because I've been working steadily since fifth year. I'm not the cramming type.

I gave up rugby in fifth year and studied for a regular three to four hours each evening. I did the same in sixth year. Now that that the exams are looming, my only source of stress comes from the people around me. A lot of my classmates are showing signs of pressure.

Since classes ended I've been studying for six hours a day on weekdays. I'm taking some grinds as well.

My biggest headache is history. It doesn't matter how much time you spend with that subject, you can never be fully prepared. It's not like maths or business where you have a fixed amount to learn. The reading for history is endless. I did really well in history for my mocks but it cost me about 50 per cent of my overall study time.

I envy the class coming up behind me who are taking the new syllabus. I've heard that it's a lot more manageable. At least our history teachers in school are good and they've been giving us plenty of help.

I'm feeling good about honours maths and a grind has helped. We've also had study skills support in school which has been a big plus. We have monthly meetings with our study skills tutors and I've learned to break up my study into six-week periods and to set goals and so on, which keeps me on track.

I've also learned how important it is to practise exam questions, so most of my study time is spent on that now.

At the weekends I get up at 8am and I study for four or five hours in the morning to earn some free time in the evening. All my friends do the same so we can hang out. We help each other to keep stress at bay by studying at the same time and making room for relaxation. I play third team rugby twice a week now as well - just enough to keep fit.

My first choice is Law in UCD and my second is Business and Legal. I have Commerce as my third choice and I'd be happy with any of those three. That leaves me with a range of about 100 points between my first and third choices. Knowing that I'm not relying on one option makes me feel a lot more comfortable.

With only days to go I don't feel any reason to be stressed. I think the media hype up this whole story of Leaving Cert pressure and then students start to worry without reason. If everyone didn't talk about the stress of the Leaving so much, the stress wouldn't be so bad.

The points race is totally overrated. There are back doors into most professions now if you don't get the points first time.