Leaving Cert Maths Ordinary Level exam tips with Jean Kelly
In the video up top she runs through Paper 1 and 2 with Study Hub host Maura Fay. Jean looks at what might come up and the best ways for students to get set.
Jean also shared six videos full of great advice and tips for Leaving Cert students sitting the exams with RTÉ Learn.
Jean has a wide breadth of experience in teaching Leaving Cert Ordinary Level Maths to students of all abilities and has been teaching in The Institute of Education for over 20 years.
Over that time, Jean has developed an unmatched track record in helping students through the Maths syllabus and brings a refreshing approach to the explanation, clarification and tuition of the Maths syllabus.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Irish Times
Carl O'Brien: ‘Why grade deflation for Leaving Cert students might not be such a bad thing'
We asked recently what you'd like to know more about in the run-up to the Leaving Cert results. Many parents are keen for more details about the impact of the postmarking adjustment for the class of 2025. 'It's unfair - why should the class of 2024 have an advantage over the class of 2025,' said one parent. 'Thousands of students from recent years will have stronger grades. Surely there is fairer system?' wrote another. There's no doubt about it: this year's students are paying for the price of Covid-era grade inflation. Students' results this year will be inflated, on aggregate, by 5.5 per cent after marking is completed. This is 1.5 per cent lower than last year's 7 per cent postmarking adjustment. This, based on our rough calculations, could be the equivalent of roughly 10-12 CAO points for a higher level student. READ MORE Why is this happening? The Minister for Education wants to gradually return Leaving Cert grades to pre-Covid norms over the course of several years to maintain the integrity of the exam results. Many students are naturally worried that they will be disadvantaged in the hunt for CAO points compared to students on bumper grades from previous years. But will it really be so bad? After digging into the numbers, there are a few reasons to believe it might not necessarily be so unfair for many students. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw 1. Lower grades may mean lower points There are several factors that influence the entry cut-off point for the CAO's round one offers in late August. They include the number of places on offer across individual courses, demand for these places and the points achieved by applicants. With so many candidates set to achieve lower points this year, on aggregate, it seems likely that CAO points will drop across many courses. Something similar happened in 2023. A particularly difficult higher level Leaving Cert maths paper meant the proportion of students who secured top grades fell significantly. For example, the proportion of students who achieved a H1 fell from 18 per cent in 2022 to 11 per cent in 2023. This meant there were thousands of fewer points washing around the system. This led to points falling across a majority – 60 per cent – of courses. More significantly, the proportion of students who secured their first-choice increased. John McGinnity, guidance counsellor with the Institute of Education, estimated at the time that the drop in the number of students who secured a H1 in maths was worth the equivalent of 20,000 points across the system. 'This drop in points had a ripple effect through the entire system given the interdependencies between courses as it cascaded down, reducing the points for those courses in the middle and lower ranges as it moved through,' McGinnity said in 2023. There is a chance, then, that with fewer points in the system this year, we could see points drop across many courses. It's not a given. In courses where there are increased applicant numbers – and no increases in places – there may be upward pressure on points. But there are reasons to be hopeful. A Leaving Certificate student checks their exam results via the online Department of Education hub. Photo: Bryan O'Brien Keywords: can leaving cert pass honours fail college education points 2. Fewer candidates with bumper results from last year The unfairness at the heart of grade deflation lies in the fact this the class of 2025 are competing against thousands of students from recent years with inflated results for the same CAO places. But how many? One higher education source tells me that data from early March shows that about 15 per cent of the 2025 CAO applicant cohort will be presenting Leaving Cert results from 2024. This is significantly down from the average of 17-18 per cent over the previous five years. These proportions are unlikely to have changed much since then, but the CAO should be able to provide more definitely data soon. How much impact this has across individual courses is another story. Either way, it is a positive indicator. Trinity College Dublin. Photograph: iStock. 3. Extra places in some courses New programmes and additional places may help to ease some points pressure across courses in very high demand such as dentistry, pharmacy and therapeutic areas this year. Last June, for example, the Government approved a significant expansion in training places for 'health and social care professions'. A total of 320 additional student places are being created in 2025 in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, radiation therapy, radiography, podiatry, social work, medical science and dietetics. In addition, there is a new dentistry course offered by the RCSI for the first time this year (20 places reserved for Irish/EU students), as well as pharmacy at University of Galway – two areas associated with sky-high entry points. Again, there is no guarantee that points will drop in these courses, but additional places are a positive indicator when it comes to easing upwards points pressure. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw 4. What's up and what's down Later this week the CAO will provide a breakdown of general course preference trends among this year's applicants following the July 1st 'change of mind' deadline. This gives a clue about what's up and what's down this year in terms of CAO points. This, in turn, gives a clue about where points requirements are likely to rise and fall. If you can't wait for that, the figures as of March this year showed that applications for college degrees in areas such as construction, engineering and architecture increased considerably in 2025. Conversely, interest in third-level courses for languages and information and communication technologies (ICT) has fallen away. In the area of health studies, school leavers applying for degrees in medicine have increased by 4 per cent; dentistry and related subject applications had a 76 per cent increase; nursery and midwifery, which are skills in high demand. How were the exams for you? We'd love to hear your feedback on this year's Leaving Cert exams: what were the hardest?; what kind of toll did it take on students?; what changes would you like to see?; are you concerned about grade 'deflation' and its impact on CAO points? Please take a few minutes to complete our survey, below, and we'll share the results soon:
Irish Daily Mirror
06-07-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Call for supports to keep kids in school as 28k students quit before sitting LC
At least 28,500 kids due to sit their Leaving Cert or the Leaving Cert Applied over a five-year period left school early, figures have revealed. This includes 13,222 students who left school in the last two academic years alone, without completing their final exams. On average, 91% of students complete the Leaving Cert. The figures were released to Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins following a series of parliamentary questions to Education Minister Helen McEntee. Deputy Cummins told the Irish Mirror that support needs to be in place to ensure that children are supported to attend school. She said schools need to have a 'designated person' whose job it is to manage children's attendance in schools She continued: 'We also need to have the wraparound services from Tusla with regards to social work for family support. 'We need to have the psychological supports for those children who have avoidance-based school refusal. Anxiety is a huge, huge issue that is being displayed in schools because children are not able to cope in mainstream school because of many, many different reasons.' The data confirmed what year students started in secondary school and how many left before completing their Leaving Cert or Leaving Cert Applied. Minister McEntee confirmed the most recent figures available concern those who began their post-primary education in 2017, and were due to complete their Leaving Certificate in the academic years 2021/22 or 2022/23, depending on whether or not they did Transition Year. Figures for the 2018 cohort finishing in 2023/24 are not complete, she stated. Of the students who started secondary school in 2017, 6,398 left before sitting their Leaving Cert, while another 803 left without doing the Leaving Cert Applied, bringing the total number to 7,201. Some 90% of students who started school in 2017 completed the Leaving Cert, while 79% sat the Leaving Applied. Of the students starting secondary school in 2016, 5,324 (8.3%) left without sitting the Leaving Cert. When the 697 children who did not sit their Leaving Cert Applied are included, the number who left school without their qualifications rose to 6,021. The number of early school leavers for those who entered post-primary education in 2015 dropped compared to other years and stood at 4,912 (7.9%). These students were due to sit their Leaving Cert in 2020 or 2021 amid large-scale pandemic disruptions. In 2020, the Leaving Cert was cancelled and predicted grades were introduced. Some 5,169 students (8.5%) who started school in 2014 and 5,259 (8.7%) who started in 2013 did not sit their Leaving Cert. It brings the total number of students who left school before sitting their exams to 28,562. McEntee also provided Deputy Cummins with data on the number of early school leavers in Deis schools compared to non-Deis schools. Across the same five-year period, an average of 15% left school before finishing their Leaving Certificate in Deis schools. However, this fell to 7% in non-Deis schools.
Irish Times
27-06-2025
- Irish Times
‘Check your spam': Six things to know ahead of CAO deadline day
For thousands of Leaving Cert students it has been a six-year journey like no other. After starting in the calm of late August 2019, students had to navigate their way through a pandemic, school closures and its aftermath. Now that the exams are finally over, there's just one last box to tick off: what to do after school. Despite the wide range of options on offer to school leavers, the CAO application process will dominate the thoughts of most students. In fact, applications for third-level college courses are on track to reach a record high this year with 83,447 applications at last count, up from 77,049 a year ago. For applicants, there are some important pointers to bear in mind in advance of the CAO deadline next week. READ MORE 1. Deadline day: July 1st, 5pm Other than for a small group of 'restricted application' courses, this is the last chance for any CAO applicant to add, subtract or amend in any way the courses they wish to apply for honours degree (level eight) or ordinary degrees (level six/seven) courses. All such amendments must be completed online by 5pm on Tuesday, July 1st. [ Classroom to college: your essential newsletter with advice on the CAO and study options Opens in new window ] 2. Watch out for discontinued CAO courses Some applicants may decide they are happy with the course list they submitted before the initial February 1st deadline. This would be a serious error. The online handbook available ( ) was compiled this time last year. Since then, some courses have been discontinued, while many new ones have been added by colleges as they progress through their internal approval process. In short, no CAO applicant should allow the 1st July deadline pass without reviewing their course choice lists. 3. Points may drop across many courses With the deflation of exam results, it likely there will be a reduction in points across many courses. So, if you feel a programme is outside your points range, you might be surprised. Another factor involved in driving down entry points is greater supply of places. On June 11th last, the Government approved a significant expansion in training places for health and social care professions which will see up to 320 additional student places created in 2025 (and a further 141 in subsequent years). The immediate expansion will be in nine areas: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, radiation therapy, radiography, podiatry, social work, medical science, and dietetics. These areas may well see further points reductions. 4. Study locally, commute or secure accommodation? Every year some CAO applicants are thrilled to secure their first choice course in August, only to realise that college accommodation is either extremely scarce or outside their budget. Remember, you cannot move down your list of CAO course preferences, so choose carefully. It is worth checking with individual colleges about how to join the list of applicants for on-campus accommodation, if there is any. The reality is that our housing crisis continues to play a very significant role in the choices of those seeking third level places throughout the country. Some technological universities – which are closer to many people than the traditional universities in big cities – are an option too. 5. Check your spam Every year some students achieve excellent results but do not receive any college offers. Why? It often turns out that they missed a crucial 'statement of application' email from the CAO, seeking to confirm their personal details. In many cases, these emails end up in applicants' spam folders. In these cases, the student's exam number may be missing – so the CAO has no way of connecting their results with their applications. This year the CAO began sending out 'statement of application' emails to Leaving Cert candidates from May 7th onwards asking them to confirm their details. On May 29th, the CAO sent a reminder email to those applicants who had not yet confirmed their account information, and a 'final reminder' on Thursday just gone. It is up to the candidate to spot and correct these details. 6. Further education and training opportunities It's not all about the CAO and there are now more pathways than ever for school leavers. Further education and training courses are an excellent option ( ). For some, they are a destination; for others, they are a stepping stone to third level. Places on all further education programmes are allocated by each individual college and applications are available online on each of their websites. There is no deadline, but all places are allocated on a first come first served basis, based on suitability. Tertiary degrees are another option ( ): students begin their studies at a local further education college before seamlessly progressing to higher education, without the need for any CAO points. More than 40 of these degree courses are available for students starting in September 2025. Apprenticeships, too, are well worth exploring ( ). In addition to traditional options, there are lots of degree-level options in areas such as biopharma, engineering, finance and insurance.
