By Eimear Dinneen - 2 minute readIf you're in the process of deciding what level to take Leaving Cert Higher Level Maths at, you might be wondering how exactly the extra 25 points work. You may also be studying maths at Higher Level right now and just not understand how exactly they work! Check out our examples of how these points will work when you're calculating your overall points for the CAO.
When you sit Leaving Cert Maths at Higher Level you will receive an additional 25 points on top of the points you would get for the grade you receive in any other subject.
For example, if a student receives a H3, they get 77 points. With the additional 25 points awarded for Higher Level Maths this means the student receives a total of 102 points. Let's check out two examples below to see how these 25 points work in reality!
Example One - Emily
Emily sat the Leaving Cert in 2021 and achieved the following results:
From the grid above, we see that Emily would have only recieved 56 points in Maths without the extra points. Without the extra points she would have counted her 66 points from English instead in her top 6. However, with the bonus points from Higher Level Maths, she benefitted from an extra 15 points overall.
Example Two - Seán
Seán also sat his Leaving Cert in 2021 and received the following results:
Here we see that Seán had no benefit from the Maths extra 25 points as even with the additional points, Maths is not one of his top six scores. This demonstrates how you must decide whether the commitment and workload of Higher Level Maths is worth it if you are likely to end up doing better in your other subjects and not counting Maths in your final CAO points.
We hope these examples help you understand the extra 25 points up for grabs if you're a bit confused over them! If you'd like more detail on how the extra points work for Higher Level Maths, you can check out some more examples and descriptions here on the CAO webiste.
Best of luck in your studies, we're rooting for you!
