Life After the Mocks

You did well. Congrats! - But don't become too confident. It is important that you recognise what subjects you can improve in and work on them. Keep the mock papers. Analyse each question and take note of those you made mistakes in. Be aware that in many schools the papers are marked by the teachers. So, they may show bias towards their own students. It is important to remember that in June, an impartial examiner will be marking your paper.

Do not take your results for granted. I know of a number of cases in which students received higher grades in the mocks than in the Junior Cert. Perhaps the marking scheme for the mocks was generous, perhaps your own teacher marked the paper, perhaps it was an easy paper. In one subject in particular, the majority of the class received an 'A' grade in the mocks. A handful of students received over 90% , indicating a high result. In the Junior Certificate itself, some of the students that had received over 90% in the mocks ended up receiving a 'B' grade. They learnt a tough lesson, and it is one that will be learnt by many a student who decides to 'take their foot off the pedal' , or become lazy and ignore a subject.

You didn't do as well as you thought you would. Don't be put-off. It's important to recognise exactly where you went wrong. Did you leave your studying till the last minute? Did you not get enough sleep? Were you feeling stressed? . These are the kind of questions you should be asking yourself. Look at the results of all of your subjects, and spend an hour analysing each mock paper; where you lost marks, where you gained marks, what questions you missed etc. Take note of your mistakes and ask for a copy of the mock paper from your teacher; most won't mind giving you one. This will come in handy later in the year.

Remember, you still have lots of coursework. Those who do religion have a project which is worth 20%, CSPE students have a project which accounts for 40%, and science students have an experiment book and two large experiments which together account for 35% of the grade. Those doing languages also have their oral examinations, which also are a large percentage of the final result. Take all coursework seriously. Many students ignore the importance of it. For those who are aiming high, it is essential to score highly in the coursework in order to maintain a high grade. But also for those who feel they may struggle in the examinations themselves, coursework is important.

·        ·  There is little or no stress surrounding it - It is done in class time, with your teacher.

·         ·  You can do rough drafts of the projects, and simply copy them into your official folder later.

·         ·  Your teacher is there to help you should anything go wrong.

·        ·  There is little or no time constraints involved - you have plenty of time to do them - So don't rush the projects.