The Leaving Cert Biology course is really diverse and covers everything from cell biology to the human body to ecology and plants. Definitions are a huge part of the exam and they can often make up 25% of the questions. Also, there are 22 experiments to be learned and these often make up over 20% of the marks. For each experiment, be able to draw a diagram of the set-up and know all of the steps and the reasons for taking these steps.
Guide
Everything you need to study Leaving Cert Biology
- 3 minute read
While biology might be the most popular of all Leaving Certificate science subjects, that doesn't mean it's the easiest science subject. There is a lot of learning to be done and with all the new terms it can sometimes seem like you are learning a new language. This guide shows you everything Studyclix has to offer to study Leaving Cert Biology.
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What's involved?
The syllabus
Unit 1: the study of life
Some topics that come up within this unit are:
Unit 2: the cell
Some topics that come up within this unit are:
Unit 3: the organism
Some topics that come up within this unit are:
Some topics that come up within this unit are:
The exam
Both higher and ordinary levels are assessed by a 3-hour written examination and the paper is made up of three sections (A, B and C).
Section A is comprised of short questions.
Section B examines experiment questions.
Section C consists of more in-depth questions, examining a variety of topics.
Remember
You are required to keep a record of your practical work (experiments) over the two years of the course. This will help with answering Section B on the written paper.
More information
Future careers with Leaving Cert Biology include medicine, veterinary medicine, science, nursing, physiotherapy, farming and healthcare.
Useful links:
Check out Biology Boost
Studyclix Boost is a study and revision tool which has interactive videos, notes, tips and more.
With the help of some of the best teachers in Ireland, Studyclix has broken each LC biology topic into smaller, more specific subtopics. Each Biology Boost article contains videos and interactive components to make the information more consumable.
Studying is about to get a whole lot easier! For more information, click here.
Read our H1 guide
Every year students ask us questions like:
How do I study biology?
What should I know for the exam?
What should my timing be like?
Thankfully, all of the answers to these questions can be found in our H1 Leaving Cert Biology Guide. It was written by a H1 student and is full of tips and tricks for maximizing your marks in the exam.
Listen to the Studyclix Podcast
If you want even more tips on how to do well in Biology, you can listen to the Studyclix Podcast where Eimear and Nessa chat to H1 student Celine about what she did to succeed.
Practice past exam questions
Biology exam questions tend to repeat themselves often so the more questions you practice, the fewer surprises you'll have on the day of your exam. As a result, going through past exam papers is probably the best study method you can use for biology. Here are three ways you can go about it:
Top tip
Stuck on a question? Not sure about a topic? Looking for some more notes? Try asking our community page for some tips and advice. There are plenty of students and teachers there who are more than willing to help you out.
Experiment videos
Do you find a particular biology experiment hard to understand? Perhaps you missed an experiment day at school? No need to worry, we have a playlist of videos going through the experiments for biology. Remember, experiment questions may make up 20% of your exam.
Topic analysis tables
If you are stuck for time when studying for biology, you should focus on studying the topics that come up most often. Checking out our 'topic analysis tables' is the easiest way you can do this.
What is a 'topic analysis table' you ask? Looking at the questions asked over the last 10 years, we created a table highlighting every year a topic within biology was asked. We have given each question a score to allow us to calculate the frequency for that topic. You can check out the key at the bottom of each table to understand the scores and question length.
We update our topic analysis tables every year, click here for our latest ones.
Brand New: Studyclix Digital flashcards
Our flashcards have gone and got a whole new look! You can now use Studyclix Digital Flashcards to study for Leaving Cert Biology.
How do they work?
Click through all of the flashcards you need to know in each topic using the 'previous' and 'next' buttons on the flashcards.
Want to mix it up? Hit the shuffle button. Looking to test yourself again? Do it by hitting restart. You can also share, print or view the full deck. It's all at your fingertips!
Find all of the flashcards we have available below:
Have some ideas for more resources?
We are always looking for new ways to improve our site so we would love to hear your feedback. Get in touch by emailing info@studyclix.ie 😊