Although i hated my result and definitely want to re-check some subjects,im happy that i got science in UCD. It went up to 435,so i just made it. Although im going to Canada i still thought id see what i got this morning. The site crashed really early as Cillian mentioned. I don’t really know what to say here except that thank you for reading our blogs throughout the year,i hope they kind of gave a glimpse into our hectic and nerve wrecking lives whilst also giving a helpful hand and extra motivation to get you up and running this year…basically…just do your best!!!

Patrick – thank you once more,for being so generous as to make this site. So useful i cant even being to describe. My previous posts all commend Mr.Barry and allhonours.ie so i wont repeat myself.

It’s really been a mixture of emotions this year,but i guess its been worth it. We got what we hoped for and now we’re heading to college ! How does that feel? Now that is going to be a bigger experience than the leaving cert! So again,just attempt to do your best,grow from the experience.

Good luck to the class of 2010,whether you’re repeating,or heading to college.Good luck to the new 6th years! Keep your goals in mind when your studying,points have gone up so keep focused and devoted,but have the odd weekend out too. I can’t believe it’s over…almost surreal! I love it  Thank you allhonours.ie for just being there!!!

Goodbye web-based world. I thank you.

-Ally

After a night of sporadic waking, I finally got a glimps of the CAO tables just after four this morning. They picture may have been taken with a camera phone and incredibly blurry, but the fact I was able to make out 545 for Actuarial and Financial Studies in UCD came as a massive relief! No random selection, no 550+, I had just got in with nothing to spare! Nothing, however, quite beats confirmation from the CAO themselves. Despite crashing at 0600 on the dot (Typical Ireland!), I managed to finally accept my offer about ten minutes later!

All last night I had myself convinced it would go above 550 again. In the last 12 years, there have only been three years where it has been less than 545, and considering applications were up 16% this year, I was getting content with settling for DCU. At this stage, I cannot even say it was down to hardwork or intelligence; in my case it was just sheer luck getting the points I needed and for the CAO to work out like that! So it looks like I’ll be starting orientation this day three weeks as a fresher in UCD, as you can probably tell I’m over the moon!

This blog all year has been amazing. Just writing down everything that was going on, even if no one read it, helped to keep the year pretty much stress-free! This website has been a God-send to any LCer looking to do well. I think we all owe its founder, Patrick Barry, a serious thanks. I was lucky enough to meet him during the year, and I have to say, the man is an absolute gentleman. He makes the lives of countless Sixth Years infinitely easier. While the whole blogging experience was entirely new to me, it was certainly an enjoyable one, and definitely worth trying next year! Hearing other peoples’ experiences of what was going on was fantastic and allowed me have a different perspective to the year.

To the class of 2010, congratulations and I hope you achieved what you set out to achieve. Hopefully I’ll see a few of ye around UCD!

To the class of 2011, relax, enjoy your last year of school, work hard and play hard. Don’t become a study slave, get now and again, the Leaving Cert is nothing to be afraid of. What you put in is what you’ll get out of it. I’ll probably write a bit more here later about what’ll help you get the most out of the year, but we’ll see.

So for one last time… good luck people!

Cillian.

After two years of preparation, hours of studying, even more hours trying to avoid it, exams and the like, yesterday finally brought some closure to the Leaving Cert. While the exams themselves seem like a distant memory, the summer has just been eaten up! With time being consumed by work over the last few weeks, results were pushed to the back and left little time for contemplating, thankfully. As a crowd of us gathered outside the school at 10am yesterday morning, the feeling of excitement and nerves was contagious. Trying to figure out what to expect was next to impossible. After each exam, I made a note of what grade I thought I may have got. The best I figured I could hope for about 510. As we queued outside the principal’s office, going in one by one to get the white envelope, I grew more and more nervous until I finally got mine. And then it stopped. Oddly followed by complete calmness. I went to a nearby classroom and opened it up there, praying there wouldn’t be the same pang of disappointment I got on getting the HPAT results. Here’s how it went (All honours… :L)

Irish B1
Maths A2
English A2
French B2
Biology A1
Chemistry A2
Economics A2

I was genuinely shocked when I saw the results. And even more so adding the points up. So much so I was convinced my adding skills weren’t the best (well only an A2 in Maths like!) When I arrived at 545 for the fifth time, I accepted I had done better than could ever be imagined. I mean Irish and English? It turned out to be a day of PB’s! Never before had I got anything great than a C2 in Irish, not even one B before in six years of class tests! Even though French didn’t count, I made and absolute hames of the oral, had a very dogey written paper, and still managed a B2. And then English, what a place to get your first ever A! Despite my bog-standard English and ropey comparative, with the help of bombastic vocab here and there I pulled out an A2! I genuinely would not have got that result without this blog. Six years on and not one class of English grammar, this finally gave me the kick in the arse needed to learn a few of the rules! The only one I wasn’t ecstatic about was Maths. I know an A2 is deadly, but I really felt if there was one paper I got the A1 in, it was Maths. I was happy too with Chem and Economics as despite not having wonderful papers, I managed to pull out the A in both. I know many regarded Biology very easy this year, but after the record I had with a spate of teachers, it was a relief to get the A1.

The results in my school were unbelievable this year. In a year of 110, at least 18 got over the 500 point mark, with one guy getting the 600, and another getting 580. Considering just 6 broke the 500 mark last year, it was a serious improvement. I have to admit the competitive nature of us all helped and was probably the reason we got on so well!

So for college, I’ve to await until Monday to find out for certain, but it looks like Actuary in UCD. It was 530 last year, so I have 15 points to spare, but applications for it increased a lot this year. Failing that, DCU seems a cert considering it was 485 in ‘09. When I look back at it now, 5 A’s and 2 B’s was quite an achievement. Despite the whole medicine thing not working out, I think I’m glad it happened. It appears far more glamorous than it actually is in my opinion. If I was to repeat the HPAT, I’d need 170+ points to get in based on last year. But we’ll see. I have the grade requirements for it in most places in the UK so it’s good to have that option open.

For the rest of you, I hope you’re all happy. They’re not the end of the world, but rather a means to an end. At the end of the day, it’s about fulfilling one’s potential. The guy who gets 360 but has been told his limit is 350 has done better in my view than the girl who could get 600, but only gets 500. That’s why it’s unfair to compare people on LC points I feel.

You’ll hear from me once more after Monday, this is the day that really matters. I hope the points don’t go up too much, for all of our sake’s!

Cillian

Hey everyone!

I hope you all are delighted with your results and had a great night last night! It’s all finally over after nine months of having to feign interest in subjects that you honestly couldn’t give  toss about. Although it will be really weird never going back to secondary school ever again and for many of us, moving away from home for the first time…I’m delighted it’s all behind now.

After going through the longest night of my life, I finally got my results at 10 yesterday morning. Since it was my second time getting my LC results, it really did feel like it was the last chance saloon. I was shìtting it when I got that big, horrible brown envelope and was wondering how it would go down at home if I decided to just not open it. But of course, my mother wasn’t going for it and as soon as I got back to the car, she took the envelope and opened it…..and it was the best shock of my life.

A C3 in french (I seriously thought that I had failed it!), B1 in English and Business, B2 in History, B3 in Economics and a C2 in Biology…..which means 455 points…a number I was not expecting. I was so happy that repeating had paid off, despite being so reluctant in the beginning. I’m glad I did it and I advise anyone who’s not happy to repeat if they need to. It is a lot of hard work and it’s hard as your friends go to college but it is incredibly worthwhile and if you want your course badly enough, I think it’s the best way to go.

It’s been a great year and I actually quite enjoyed it (but I know it’s easy to say that in hindsight!) I wish everyone the best for the future and hope it all works out!

Hey guys! Well, long time no see! I’m kind of all over the place at this stage if I’m honest. As your all guessing I did indeed get my leaving cert results. I wouldn’t like to say I was disappointed but I guess I kind of was. I always had that little voice in my head saying that I wouldn’t do as well as I hoped,that voice seemed to be true this morning. I went into school, 9am, was met by a happy principal and nervously opened the A4 envelope…only to reveal no sign of ANY A’s. The first thing I saw was a C1 in pass Irish, my heart dropped, it was then followed by a bleak B3 in English, not looking good. If  I wasn’t moving to Canada where I was already accepted into the science and arts course I’d tear this results up and eat it, then repeat in the hope of getting at least ONE damn A.

Irish (ord) C1,English(h) B3,Maths(ord) B2,French(h) B1,Art(H) B1,Chemistry(H) B3,Biology(H) B2.

now,i was expecting an A in at least english and biology, my top subjects in school..but no. Im also raging i wont be in ireland to see my scripts. I was pleasantly surprised though, to see that i had gotten a B1 in Art and a B3 in chemistry. Other than that,,like i said,,id so repeat.

I got 440 points…I think. Not nearly enough for medicine at ALL, along with my mere 124 points from the HPAT, that’s not going to get me an offer. I think if I were to stay here I’d get science in Maynooth, not even in UCD. In conclusion: Man is it hard to actually pull an A1 in the Leaving!

Although being photographed for local papers was flattering, you still have that feeling of regret, I should have studied that extra hour and not watched the X factor!”. But its over now, I did my best, its not the end of the world! Its a great result but just not great enough. Some of my friends barely passed so I shouldn’t be too upset.

In the end, it was an experience like any other in life.  You move forward not back. I’m just happy it’s over and i can get on with my life, and wait for Monday to see what offers I get! I’m leaving for Canada on the 25th. Start college there on the 1st of September.

Anyway, I hope everyone else did well too. I already mentioned Patrick Barry in my last post but I just want to say that you guys should really try out for these blogging spots, such an amazing experience.

We should all enjoy our day and the last bit of summer!!! best of luck with all that you do!!!!

-Ally xx

Due to last years huge success with the team of AllHonours bloggers, we are delighted to announce an even more aggressive blogging plan.  We are looking for up to 20 bloggers, across all years so whether you are in 1st year or 6th, we want to hear from you.  Before I detail the requirements, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the bloggers from last year and I wish them the best of luck in the forthcoming results.  I hope you will all agree, they provided much needed support and entertainment through the exams.  They hit many milestones ranging from an upward spiral of comments, followers, and site traffic to being featured in The Irish Times.  We hope to achieve the same and more this year so make sure you register your interest ASAP!  Places are limited.

Becoming a blogger has many benefits such as improving your communication and creative skills, making a difference to tens of thousands of students who read your posts, and having the chance of being featured in the national newspapers over the exam period.  It is also a perfect job experience to place on your CV as you will have full creative control over your content and it takes planning and impressive communication skills to connect with readers.

If you wish to become a blogger simply email info@allhonours.ie with your details – name, age, year, school, county.  Also include a sample introductory post to give me a sense of your writing style.

Looking forward to reading your posts!  Any further questions feel free to email me.

Best of luck,
Patrick.