Joe’s Jotter: How to Chase Top Grades at Junior & Leaving Cert 2025
With the exams finally set in stone for June, what is the best way you can maximise your chances of achievement with a few months to go? How do you go about getting the highest possible result in each subject? As a student, you obviously cannot change any of the work you have done over the last eighteen months, but you still have over two months left to focus in on what you really need to get done. The purpose of this feature article is to give you some practical tips on how to ensure your grades are as high as possible across all subjects. Both Junior and Leaving Cert Students can benefit from the below guidance. Four Ways to ‘Up Grade’ 1. Maintain Your High Standards. The best thing for students to do now is to listen to their teachers and complete all homework and classwork to a high standard. Each piece of work you complete well that has been verified by your teacher, will help get you familiar with the examiners expectations in June. This includes daily homework, class tasks and overall contribution to class. Students should actively listen in class and show a genuine interest in topics they are studying. Similarly, and as I always say, ‘complete each piece of homework as if it were an exam paper question’. If you haven’t taken things seriously up to now in some subjects, start tomorrow. As you meet new topics in class, work hard to try and get a better understanding of them using the Internet and your book. Each teacher will be aware of your efforts and will be more inclined to help and offer you advice as a result. Be sure to maintain a good working respectful relationship with all your teachers. Remember that any work done, or efforts made to create notes and summaries will essentially be ‘money in the bank’ when it comes to sitting the exams in June. Every revision block and hour spent preparing will contribute to your success, as you deepen your knowledge of the course. 2. Stay Engaged in Class. As always, teachers look for genuine engagement from all students during class. Students should endeavour to participate and learn as much as they can in each class. They shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions as they normally would, as this shows initiative and a desire to learn. If I were in your position now, I would bring a little hardback into each class and note down any key points the teacher emphasises as important. This ensures you stay engaged during each class. Treat all topics from now on seriously and consider that they could appear on your Junior or Leaving Cert Paper. Tend carefully to homework in subjects that you didn’t show much interest in up to now. It isn’t too late to turn things around in any subject. It is never too late to begin revision for any exam, but certainly the sooner you start the better. 3. Keep ‘Showing Up’. During the various restrictions and lockdowns, we all had to find ways to stay focused and motivated. Key elements that help motivation include having a daily structure, having a sense of achievement, and having something productive to show at the end of each day. Be sure to attend school every day and go into each class with a positive can do attitude. With only a limited number of weeks left, stay motivated as best you can. For 6th year students, you may be attending third level in the Autumn, and you will have to learn new ways of processing Information. Any knowledge or skills you can pick up now will be useful for that. Investigate different ways to learn. Creating study notes, analysing texts, doing summaries, and listening well are all useful skills to enhance prior to commencing any third level course. Practice giving your subject teachers as close to 100% attention as you can now. 4. Retain Your Focus. At this stage, your Teachers and Parents know your abilities. They also know that you may have had dips in your results over the last two years. If your Christmas test or mock result was a lot lower than you could have got, they will know it may have just been a blip or a bad day for you. Worrying about previous performances or past class results will not get you one extra percent in June. In fact, it may affect preparation. Take the learnings from each test by writing your mistakes down, and then move on and be forward looking in your approach. In general, my advice to you is to revise consistently each day and reach out and chat to your friends if you have any worries. Take time out, get enough sleep, do video calls/zoom sessions with your nearest, exercise, take loads of breaks, eat well, and try to enjoy life. During moments of stress, we all need to breathe deeply and calmly. Keeping in touch with friends and having a regular exercise routine will help you maintain a positive mindset when it really matters in your life now. Retaining focus will help you remain productive. A healthy daily balance improves ones chance of success. Continue to enjoy activities and maintain that sense of fun daily. Since much of the hard work is now behind you, park the past and focus on the present and future. For 6th years, shift focus onto your subject performance, as opposed to a certain set number of CAO points. You have done so well to make it through this difficult year, so believe in yourself and the work you have done now. Get in touch with me if I can advise you and I wish you luck in your endeavours. Joe More details about Joe’s Maths Tuition Classes for 3rd, 5th & 6th Year Students 2025 and his Award Winning ACE Maths Solution Books for all students can be found via the below links: ACE Maths Classes: acesolutionbooks.com/ace-maths-tuition
ACE Maths Solution Books: acesolutionbooks.com/buy-my-books/ | 
