Guide

How to get a H1 in the Leaving Cert Geography Exam

By Muireann W. - 8 minute read

Muireann got a H1 in her Leaving Cert Geography and in this guide, she shares her advice for succeeding in this subject. 

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Introduction

When I chose geography, many people told me it was an easy subject and while an element of that is true, you do have to learn many facts, figures and processes. However, geography requires far more skill than just having the ability to memorise pre-written essays.

To truly succeed in geography, you need to have a keen understanding of what you learn and why you're learning it so you can adjust your answers accordingly to a specific question. This, paired with knowing the layout of the exam, plenty of practice and a few handy tips up your sleeve is the key to doing well in this exam. This guide will act as a map that will orient you around the geography exam, making sure you reach the summit (achieving a H1). 

Paper breakdown

The Leaving Cert Geography paper is divided into two parts:

  • Short questions

  • Structured and essay questions (including electives)

You have 2 hours and 50 minutes to complete the exam which is worth a total of 400 out of 500 marks. The geographical investigation makes up the remaining 100 marks which is completed within class time.

Short questions

This section consists of 12 short questions (each worth 8 marks) and your best 10 questions are counted (80 marks in total). These questions are generally based on diagrams, tables, graphs, maps and aerial photos and they are designed to test your knowledge of all areas of the syllabus. Here's some advice for approaching this section:

  • Timing

    I would aim to complete the short questions in 12 minutes and attempt all twelve of them. However, if you feel under pressure because of time, just do your best ten. If you have time left over at the end of the exam, you can always finish the two you didn't get done.

  • Preparation

    To prepare for this section, I went through previous exam papers answering short questions. This process helped familiarise me with the style of questions asked (filling in tables or analysing weather maps, etc.). It also helped me pinpoint my weak points and what areas I needed to practice. What also helped was completing specific short questions by topic on Studyclix and revising chapters in my book.

Core material and electives

The physical and regional sections examine core material from the geography course. You must answer one question from the physical section (questions 1, 2 and 3) and one question from the regional section (questions 4, 5 and 6). Each question is split into three parts (A, B and C) and each question is worth a total of 80 marks. Let's have a closer look:

  • Part A

    This is a 20-mark question and should be relatively fast to complete. It might include drawing a sketch map of a region (only in the regional section), an aerial photograph, an OS map or a graph, interpreting graphical information or simply answering short questions based on a diagram or text.

  • Parts B and C

    These are two 30-mark essay-style questions. They require an examination of a topic through significant relevant points (SRPs) and each SRP is worth two marks. Therefore, the maximum you need to provide is 15 SRPs to achieve the full 30 marks.

Significant relevant points

According to the State Examinations Commission (SEC), an SRP is “a single piece of factual information, to which an examiner will assign a mark weighing as prescribed in the marking scheme”. SRPs can come in the form of:

  • A statistic and additional relevant information

  • A geographical term and explanation

  • A statement and explanation

  • The development of a previous point

  • A named example

  • A diagram or sketch

  • Additional information on a diagram

Electives

The elective section is divided into 2 sections:

  • Patterns and processes in economic activities (questions 7-9).

  • Patterns and processes in the human environment (questions 10-12).

You must only do one question from one elective. Similar to the physical and regional sections, they too have parts A, B and C and have the same marking scheme with regard to SRPs. OS map and aerial photograph skills are important in the electives as they come up in 30-mark questions. 

Good to know

Here's some advice on approaching the electives:

  • Timing

    The timing for this section is the same as the physical and regional sections. You should try to have Part A (the 20-mark question) done in approximately 5 minutes and the longer essays (questions B and C) should each take 18 minutes to complete.

  • Preparation

    For the Question As, you may be asked to draw a sketch map of a region, OS map, aerial photograph or graph. These are questions you can prepare for before the exam and with practice, they will become second nature. There should be no real surprises with these on the day, just make sure you label everything on your diagrams.

  • Answering the question asked

    Regarding the 30-mark questions, they often change the wording of the questions but are still looking for the same information as previous years’ questions or the same information with a slightly different approach. This is why the information you learn off for essays often needs to be slightly adjusted to help you avoid answering the question incorrectly.

  • Going through past papers

    Knowledge of previous questions is hugely beneficial. I often went through the past exam papers, picked questions I found difficult and asked my teacher to explain them to me. In fact, we often spent classes doing this. I then went home, attempted them and asked my teacher to correct them. Not only did this help me to learn my notes but it also helped me to understand the different styles of questions on each topic.

Top tip

Adjusting pieces of information for your essays can be done easily. By rephrasing SRPs you have learned or removing certain bits of information within them and adding bits learned from other essays, you will be on the path to answering the specific question asked. This is why an understanding of what you are learning is important.

Options

The options questions are essay-style questions where you provide 24 SRPs through naming aspects, examples and discussion. There is a max of two diagrams per answer and only one diagram is credited per aspect. The whole answer is worth 80 marks (20 marks go for the overall coherence of the essay) and you should spend around 35 minutes on it. There will be three questions on your chosen option but you only do one. The options are: 

  • Global interdependence

  • Geoecology

  • Culture and identity

  • The atmosphere: ocean environment

Approaching this question

There are two ways to approach this question:

I found the best way to prepare for this section was to practice, practice, practice. A lot of the questions in this section are repetitive or only phrased with slight differences so once you have your general essay learnt off and you keep practicing previous questions, it becomes easier to manipulate it to suit the different questions asked. This way, you also have the best preparation done for anything they may throw at you in the exam. 

Remember

Whether you do a 3 or 4 aspect answer is up to you so pick the option which will deliver your best answer. However, bear in mind that sometimes, the question may indicate which approach to take.

Final tips

Final Tips

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Organisation

While this may seem like a no-brainer, proper organisation of your notes and study for the geography exam is truly indispensable. Whether you keep your notes in a copy or a folder, putting in the effort to have them together and writing them as you cover new material in class will be hugely beneficial to you in the long run. When your class has finished the course, you can allocate all your study time to just revising and ensuring you have everything covered before the exam. Personally, I would recommend having all your essays together with the SRPs in bullet points. I would also compile my notes under each section, e.g. physical geography, then subdivide under certain topics, e.g. plate tectonics, to make them easily accessible. Once the course is finished, you should have your own short, summarised ‘geography book’ which should effectively have in it everything you have done in class and need to know before the exam.

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Resources

What is important to realise is that the information you can use in geography is not limited to the conventional means of textbooks and revision books. While they may be convenient, there are many other sources of useful information. There are YouTube videos, blogs and sites dedicated to precise topics in geography which sometimes give a better overall comprehension of geographical terms and information. This allows you to gain much more memorable facts to use in essays. There are also many links to such websites on Studyclix.

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Predictions

It's true that some questions seem to come up frequently or in patterns. However, never bank on anything coming up. Always make sure you have enough covered to ensure that even if your favourite questions don't make an appearance, you’re still confident that you have plenty of questions to choose from and that you will not be sitting in an exam spiralling into a panic.

3

Participation

Listening, asking questions and doing any assigned work is essential to gaining a quick grasp on topics and learning course material. In doing so, you will save yourself valuable time in the long run.

Understanding the exam paper

The geography exam can be daunting with its layout and the vast range of questions. Therefore, being well prepared is a must and you can do this by timing yourself with past questions. This will ultimately ensure that you know what you’re doing on the day and will save you time.

Some final tips

for the Leaving Cert Geography exam.

Organisation

While this may seem like a no-brainer, proper organisation of your notes and study for the geography exam is truly indispensable. Whether you keep your notes in a copy or a folder, putting in the effort to have them together and writing them as you cover new material in class will be hugely beneficial to you in the long run. When your class has finished the course, you can allocate all your study time to just revising and ensuring you have everything covered before the exam. Personally, I would recommend having all your essays together with the SRPs in bullet points. I would also compile my notes under each section, e.g. physical geography, then subdivide under certain topics, e.g. plate tectonics, to make them easily accessible. Once the course is finished, you should have your own short, summarised ‘geography book’ which should effectively have in it everything you have done in class and need to know before the exam.

Resources

What is important to realise is that the information you can use in geography is not limited to the conventional means of textbooks and revision books. While they may be convenient, there are many other sources of useful information. There are YouTube videos, blogs and sites dedicated to precise topics in geography which sometimes give a better overall comprehension of geographical terms and information. This allows you to gain much more memorable facts to use in essays. There are also many links to such websites on Studyclix.

Predictions

It's true that some questions seem to come up frequently or in patterns. However, never bank on anything coming up. Always make sure you have enough covered to ensure that even if your favourite questions don't make an appearance, you’re still confident that you have plenty of questions to choose from and that you will not be sitting in an exam spiralling into a panic.

Participation

Listening, asking questions and doing any assigned work is essential to gaining a quick grasp on topics and learning course material. In doing so, you will save yourself valuable time in the long run.

Understanding the exam paper

The geography exam can be daunting with its layout and the vast range of questions. Therefore, being well prepared is a must and you can do this by timing yourself with past questions. This will ultimately ensure that you know what you’re doing on the day and will save you time.

Hope these help - happy studying!

Want more tips on how to do well in the exam? Watch Gabrielle's video below.

Best of luck with the exam! You'll be great.

By Muireann W.

Muireann got an H1 in her higher level Leaving cert Geography paper.

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Higher Geography
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