While questions can be repeated and a high percentage of marks often goes towards formulas and definitions, chemistry is by no means a subject that can be rote learned. There will always be questions thrown in to distinguish between an H1 or a H3 student and developing an understanding of the topics covered in class is important to ensure you are prepared for any curveballs thrown at you in the exam.

I’m not saying that you have to start reading university papers or watching chemistry documentaries to get a good grade, I would just avoid learning off an A4 page of notes with no understanding of the underlying concept. I found that just listening to my teacher’s explanation in class, followed by an occasional read through my textbook, allowed me to comprehend the wider principles before focusing on the key points in my notes.

Listening in your classes and making an effort to understand the notes as you’re taking them down will save you half the time when it comes to trying to learn them at home. It is inevitable that you’ll find some parts difficult and things are going to go over your head but don’t be afraid to start asking relevant questions as they come to mind. The reality is that half your class is probably wondering the same thing.

Your teacher will know the course inside out so they can be your best resource if you have any confusion. It’s a lot quicker to ask a question as you're covering it in class as opposed to spending time trawling through a textbook or google a week later trying to find the same answer.

All you have to do is read through the breakdown of the exam to understand the importance of the experiments. I didn’t really cop on to the fact that they could make up at least 38% of your exam until the start of 6th year so straight away I started putting together an experiments folder. In it, I included a photocopy of the experiment from my textbook or Revise Wise and highlighted the main method, diagrams apparatus/chemicals, etc.

While the experiments are separated into different chapters, I found it handy to keep them all together in one big folder, allowing me to study them as a whole. It does take some time to get your head around all of them but if you just spend half an hour or so on each one as it’s covered in class it’ll honestly make revising them for your class test (never mind say your mocks or your actual Leaving Cert) much easier.

From chemical equilibrium to stoichiometry, calculations are going to make up a large part of your exam and that is why it is important to give them the time they deserve when studying. Once you have tried and understood all of the questions from past exam papers, I’d recommend looking at examples in your textbook or even trying a few from the workbook so that you are completely comfortable in the exam.

It is so important to present your calculations in an organised manner on your script. This makes it easier for you to answer the question and rectify any mistakes while also making it easier for the examiner to correct it and identify where you may have gone wrong. Including all of your calculations and keeping your figures to 3 decimal places will maximise the number of marks you can be awarded even if your final answer isn’t correct.

These can be easy marks for any chemistry student. Random definitions and principles simply need to be regurgitated in seconds once you recognise the terms on the paper and require no form of lateral thinking. Yet, they still manage to horrify most students and can be brushed under the carpet until the weeks coming up to the exam.

The easiest way to learn all of the definitions, terms and formulas is to simply add them all to a small folder or highlight them in your notes in some way and just get it into your head quickly after you did it in class. It might take writing them out once or twice or repeating them in your head before you know them off by heart or writing them without even thinking but you’ll surprise yourself with how easily you can remember them if you learn one or two at a time and revise them every so often.

You might know the course by heart and can recite every page of your notes but, like most other subjects, studying past papers and their marking schemes is essentially where you’re going to pick up the majority of your marks. This is where Studyclix is going to come in handy.

Once I learned my notes and felt confident with a chapter, I would then choose that topic on Studyclix and go through every question that’s come up in relation to that chapter. The convenient drop-down marking scheme allowed me to see where I might lose marks and what to include in my notes for future study.

You should become familiar with how different questions are marked by looking at keywords such as ‘name’ and ‘explain’, etc. so you know how much to write for each question in the exam. The exam questions relating to each topic should be fully understood by the time your Leaving Cert comes around as it usually demonstrates a good understanding of the course and means you will be able to easily answer the majority of the paper on the day.