74Up to Easter, your study should range over the entire course.

From Easter, concentrate on

particular topics. These are the topics that come up every year along with any topics that are
more likely to come up this year.

Geography

75Know what is involved: time – the geography paper is two hours and 50 minutes long;
structure – five full questions have to be answered. All questions equal 80 marks.

76Plan your study. At least 80 per cent of your time will be spent on study so it is essential
you acquire the skills to study effectively.

77 Plan reasonable targets which you can achieve in each study session, eg, write out 15
significant relevant points (SRPs) on your selected topic.

78Focus on topics that are examined every year. These include: core unit 1 – landform
development; plate tectonics; human interaction; core unit 2 – economic activities in an Irish
region; economic activities in a European region; economic activities in a continental/sub-
continental region; economic elective – impact of EU policies on Ireland; multinational
companies.

79When you read your notes, select the key words or phrases which will help you to
remember what the topic is about.

80 Make a topic summary by placing the core theme or topic title in the centre then draw
lines from the centre and write sub-themes at the end of the lines. Along each line, write the
key words or phrases linked to the sub-theme.

81 Cover all the major topics. Don’t try to predict what will be examined. Instead, practise
answering examination questions from past papers. Time yourself and see if you can write an
answer in the time which the examination will allow you.

82Remember that the 30-mark parts of the question should have 15 SRPs

83 The usual key words are: "account for" – explain and give reasons; "compare" – point out
similarities and differences; "contrast" – point out the main differences; "describe" – state the
obvious; "explain" – write out the key points and write an explanation.

Business

84Spend at least an hour-and-a-half on business revision every second night. So three or four
one-and-a-half hours study sessions each week.

85The applied business question (ABQ) is on a five-year cycle, so the ABQs of 2008 and
2003 will be structured identically to 2013 and these ABQs must be practised first, before any
other year.
86 Long question practice: 25-mark questions – spend 10 minutes on them; 20-mark
questions – spend eight minutes on them. 20-mark questions are the most common and
students mistakenly spend 10 minutes on them, which soon builds up to a lot of two
minutes’s lost during the exam; 15-mark question – spend six minutes.

87The two most popular verbs are “illustrate” and “evaluate”. Yet with our above structure
we automatically deal with these verbs. The example deals with illustrate and the student can
use the advantage or disadvantage as their personal opinion by putting “in my opinion” in
front or their advantage or disadvantage. This is excellent as it is a genuine opinion not rote
learned from a textbook.

88 ABQ – you have 45 minutes to answer this section. It is essential to practise it as it takes
most students over an hour to do this question. But after five or six ABQs the speed naturally
develops. If you do not practise the ABQ, you will not get it done in under an hour in the
Leaving Cert – major mistake.You should be doing at least one ABQ each week from now
until the exam.

89 The long question can often contain one sentence, but there are two parts to be dealt with
to correctly answer the question. The long question may also have a short story as an
introduction, if so students must refer to the short story in their answer or marks will be lost.

History

90By now you should be finished, or nearing the completion of your special study. Look over
the requirements for length, sources and background information, and remember someone
will be reading 300 of these over a couple of weeks in the summer, so make it memorable.

91 Every topic will have details that are essential eg, terms such as fascism, sectarianism,
ecumenism. Make sure you know essential dates and what order events happened. It’s like
telling a story. Don’t leave out the important bits and it’s not very interesting if you tell it in
the wrong order.

92 Don’t think of learning off essays. It would be great if you get the exact wording in your
exam questions but it’s unlikely to happen, so think of moveable information that you can use
to answer any question. Practise writing a point per paragraph; remember the answer is
marked mostly paragraph by paragraph and if your work is organised and thoughtful, you’ll
do well.

93 Remember, honours history is not about writing all you know about a topic. It is about
learning to make links to the question you are answering with the information you know. For
example, a question on the factors that led to the growth of fascism is not write all you know
about fascism: you must isolate what brought about its rise such as instability after the second
World War, the economic situation, threat of communism etc.

94Look at your documents: many students regard this question as a formality but knowing
the topic, and how to handle written and visual sources can be worth an extra grade.

95Don't forget to revise your compulsory case studies. There are only three, so make sure you
know enough to write a mini-essay of two-and-a half pages in order to answer the
contextualisation part of the question.
Home Economics

96The home economics course is huge. Break it down. Have a timetable, and take it one day
or week at a time.

97Do three or four short questions every night. Each one is worth six marks – that’s 1.5 per
cent of your total mark. Use your textbook to answer them, so you build up a bank of
accurate information in your head.

98 Practice question 1 (a) in section B. You will have to analyse a graph or a chart in this
question. It doesn’t appear in any textbook. You need to be familiar with it.

99 Read one exam question each night. Highlight key terms. What is being asked? Look at
the marking scheme. How are marks distributed? Many students have the right information
but lose marks because they don’t know their marking scheme.

100Know all the topics in your elective. Part (a) is compulsory. If you cut corners, you may
get caught out.