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• Dec 22, 2022

Leaving Cert History: Tips and Tricks for Acing Your Exam

Updated: Mar 27, 2023

1. What to Expect on the Leaving Cert History Exam

The Leaving Cert History exam is a crucial part of your final secondary school exams, and it can be a daunting task to prepare for. However, with some careful planning and effective study strategies, you can feel confident and prepared on exam day.

In this blog post, we will go over what you can expect on the Leaving Cert History exam, including the format, content, and marking scheme. By understanding what to expect, you can tailor your study plan to best suit your needs and achieve success on the exam.

2. Effective Study Strategies for Leaving Cert History

Now that you know what to expect on the Leaving Cert History exam, it's time to start thinking about how you will prepare for it. Here are a few study strategies that can help you succeed:

Review your notes and textbook regularly: The more you review the material, the more likely you are to retain it. Make sure to review your notes and textbook on a regular basis, rather than trying to cram all of the information in the night before the exam.

Practice with past exam papers: Familiarizing yourself with the types of questions that have been asked on past Leaving Cert History exams can be extremely helpful. This will not only give you an idea of what to expect on the exam, but it will also help you get a feel for the pacing and structure of the exam.

Create study groups: Studying with a group can be a great way to review the material, discuss important concepts, and stay motivated. Try to find a group of classmates who are also studying for the Leaving Cert History exam and schedule regular study sessions.

Take breaks: It's important to take breaks while studying to give your mind a chance to rest and recharge. Try to take a break every hour or so to stretch, grab a snack, or do something else you enjoy.

3. Additional Resources for Leaving Cert History

In addition to your notes and textbook, there are a number of other resources that can help you prepare for the Leaving Cert History exam. Here are a few suggestions:

Online tutorials and videos: There are plenty of online tutorials and videos that can help you review important concepts and historical events. These can be a great supplement to your traditional study materials.

Practice exams: In addition to past Leaving Cert History exam papers, there are also many practice exams available online. These can be a useful tool for testing your knowledge and identifying areas where you may need to focus your study efforts.

Tutors or study groups: If you are struggling to understand certain concepts or feel like you could use some extra support, consider working with a tutor or joining a study group. These resources can provide valuable guidance and encouragement as you prepare for the exam.

4. Final Tips for Acing the Leaving Cert History Exam

As you get closer to the exam date, it's important to stay focused and motivated. Here are a few final tips to help you succeed:

Stay organized: Keep all of your study materials in one place and make a schedule for when you will review each topic. This will help you stay on track and avoid last-minute cramming.

Get plenty of rest: Make sure to get enough sleep the night before the exam. A well-rested mind is better able to retain and recall information.

Stay calm: It's natural to feel anxious before a big exam, but try not to let your nerves get the best of you. Take a few deep breaths, remind yourself of all the hard work you have put in, and focus on the task at hand.

Pace yourself: During the exam, it's important to manage your time wisely. Don't spend too much time on any one question, and make sure to leave time at the end to review your work.

Review and revise: After the exam, take some time to review the material and see if there are any concepts or historical events you may have missed. This can help you identify any weaknesses and areas for improvement, as well as reinforce your understanding of the material.

We hope these tips and strategies have been helpful as you prepare for the Leaving Cert History exam. Remember to stay organized, stay focused, and stay positive, and you will be well on your way to success on exam day.

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• Leaving Cert

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History - Higher

Late Modern History (1815-1993) is divided into 6 Irish topics and 6 European topics. 

Leaving Cert History is a challenging course and requires essay style answers. Good English skills, the ability to do research and an interest in History are all important if you do this subject. Up to 20% of your final result will be based on your research project done before the exam. 

History (Late Modern) Course Content

Irish History (1815-1993) 

• Ireland & the Union,
• Movements for political and social reform
• Sovereignty & the impact of partition
• The Irish diaspora
• Politics and society in Northern Ireland
• Republic - government, society, economy

History of Europe and the Wider World 1815-1993 

• Nationalism and State Formation
• Nation states and international tensions
• Dictatorship and democracy
• Division and realignment in Europe
• European retreat from Empire and the aftermath
• The US and the World.
• Written Exam (80%)
• Research Study Report (20%)

At both levels, the examination paper features a documents-based question (linked to the documents-based study) and three general questions. All four questions carry equal marks. The paper is 2 hours and 50 minutes long.

Research Study Report

Students must choose a research topic and write up their findings under three headings:Outline Plan (15 marks); Evaluation of the Sources (25 marks); Extended Essay with a review of the research process (60 marks). 

Future Careers with Leaving Certificate History

Leaving cert History is not an essential requirement for any courses in the CAO system. History can be used in a wide variety of careers including Archaeology, Writing, Research, Education and Tourism.

Download the Leaving Cert History Syllabus

Download the Leaving Cert History Chief Examiner's Report  (2017) 

Download the Leaving Cert History Guidelines for teachers

Past Papers

Created by studyclix.

Community Activity

Leaving Cert History How To Answer Questions Effectively.

Leaving Cert History can be quite confusing. Here, the student is expected to know off by heart a lot of information about a historical topic, figure, movement, or period. 

While knowing the facts is a must, it is also extremely important that students take the time to read the question carefully and properly. In my experience as a History teacher, it is very common for students to lose a lot of marks by actually misreading – and then miss answering - the question that they are asked! A student might write a brilliant, factually correct essay on the ‘role of women in the Irish literary revival’, but that student might get minimal marks because that is not what the question asked them to do!

Therefore, answering the question correctly is extremely important, and of equal importance is actually ‘reading’ the question properly. This might sound silly or obvious, but it is surprising how many Leaving Certificate students lose a lot of marks not because their information is inaccurate, but because they misread the question! Therefore, if you want to do well in your history exam, it is worth taking some time to pay attention to the smaller things that might make a huge difference to your grade! This section focuses on reading questions carefully, understanding questions correctly, and answering properly.   

Questions in Leaving Cert History, regardless of what examination paper you are writing from, or what level you are studying at, will ask you to do one of two things, depending on what question of the section you are answering. You will be asked to examine and use evidence from a source to form an opinion or answer a question about a historical issue/topic/person etc., (you will need to justify your opinion by the way) OR you will be asked to recall what you have learned about a topic, and use that information to form the basis of an answer/argument. So to take the example of the Later Modern Irish History again, what if you were asked a question like ‘how did the threat and use of physical force affect Ireland during the period 1912-1923?’ That particular question was asked in the 2012 Higher Level History Paper II, but how do we answer such a question?

Well, first things first, you need to ‘understand’ or ‘figure out’ what the question wants you to do: with a question like this, the buzz-words like ‘violence’, ‘threat’, ‘Ireland’ are very misleading, and they might cause you to slip into writing a wonderful essay about the causes of the Easter Rising or about Padraic Pearse’s ideas ‘Blood Sacrifice’, but that is not what the question is asking! This normally happens because of panic or stress on the day of the exam or the sheer mental exhaustion of the Leaving Cert in general. Misreading a question can certainly happen, it is a real possibility, and it is definitely something to be careful of. So, how do we avoid it, and answer the question properly and get the maximum amount of marks?

Well, it’s very simple. First, you should take two minutes at the start of the exam to read the paper, and then identify the key-words in the question: this can be demonstrated here by underlining and/or highlighting the keywords in the 2012 Higher L. Paper II question: ‘ how did the threat and use of physical force affect Ireland during the period 1912-1923 ’. Use a highlighter, a different coloured biro, circle or underline the keywords, place an asterisk beside them – whatever works best for you - but whatever you do it make sure that you separate those keywords from the question! Identifying the keywords in this manner allows you to get to the core of the question, and figure out what the question is asking.

In the question I have chosen, you are basically being asked to examine instances where force was used and threatened, and how this affected Ireland. “That’s easy”, you might say, but be careful: there is a pitfall in this question that might be easy to overlook: notice the presence of the word “AND”? You are being asked to examine the ‘threat AND use’ of force. It is no good talking about the threat OR the use of force, i.e., one or the other: you need to discuss an example of each in order to answer the question properly and fully and get full marks. 

Granted, 1912-1923 is a period of 11 years, and a lot happened during that time: Ireland had the Home Rule Bill, WWI and Irish neutrality, the Easter Rising, the partitioning of Ireland, the partitioning of Ireland, the Civil War, and the assassination of Michael Collins, to name but a few! Therefore you need to narrow your answer down and make decisions about what to include in your answer and what to leave out.  

Good decision making is a very important technique for getting high marks: successful students make good decisions. Therefore, be sensible and confident in your own decision: remember, you don’t have a lot of time in the exam – the time really does fly. Do not dwell too long on what to leave in or take out: make your decision and move forward into answering the question. In this case, you need to include (at least) one example of direct physical force (the Easter Rising, 1916 perhaps,) AND (at least) one example of the threat of force (Britain’s threat of open war to the Treaty Delegation, for example). You should then explain how each event affected Ireland politically/socially/economically. In other words, what happened during/after each event that had a significant effect on the Irish people or on the country itself? Once you have the question figured out, everything else will fall into place.

In order to get marks, you need to answer the questions – that’s a no-brainer! But what many people forget is that to order to get the most marks, you need to answer the question properly. This means reading the question carefully and properly, identifying the keywords, and knowing exactly what the question wants before you answer it… Take your time and pay attention to the small things: this will give you an enormous advantage in any exam situation, especially leaving cert history ! 

Work towards that H1 in Leaving Cert History with iRevise.com. Access a library of free online resources when you create your account today !

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We’re very excited to present our work on Later Modern History (Higher Level). 

✔notes as detailed below

We have a lot of free notes online, see our contents here Don’t forget to subscribe for all the latest content and tips!

• Post author: Martina
• Post published: August 1, 2021
• Post category: History

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