Leaving Cert higher-level maths can often be a subject that many students find particularly difficult and worry about. Your knowledge and understanding of maths will be developed over the two-year Leaving Cert course so don’t worry if it’s not always plain sailing, you’ll get there. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

With effective revision and all the right resources (notes, Studyclix, your teacher, etc.), you’ll find that it’s not as impossible as many make it out to be and you might even begin to enjoy studying maths.

While studying for the Leaving Certificate higher-level papers, I learned not to attack everything at once. There is so much in the course and some of it can be confusing but if you break it down into small, bitesize chunks, it is much more manageable and a lot less stressful. Bear in mind the following:

On the day of the exam, your mind will naturally be racing and adrenaline will be rushing through your body. This nervous feeling is normal. However, this may mean that you are more likely to forget the important equipment you need. My best advice is to make a checklist for yourself which you can go through on the morning of the exam. I recommend having the following on your checklist:

Here's some useful information to remember about the exam:

Timing for the maths papers is very important. You don’t want to lose out on marks simply because you ran out of time. Luckily, this is avoidable. Both papers are 2.5 hours long and you must complete 3 long questions (50 marks each) and 5 short questions (30 marks each) in both. Don’t spend any longer than 20 minutes on the short questions and for the long questions, no longer than 30 minutes.

Don’t waste too much time trying to figure out a difficult question if you’re getting nowhere with it. Every year, there are one or two questions in the exam which are deemed ‘impossible’ for most students. If you can work it out, fantastic, if not, just move along and come back at the end to give it one last attempt. At times, these questions aren’t worth as many marks as the more manageable ones anyway.

When working out long maths problems in the exam, write down every single step. Even if you can do the sum in your head, write down your workings. Often, marks are given for these steps and the last thing you want is to lose out on marks because you’ve done a sum in your head or your calculator but haven’t written it down. Lastly, never scribble out your workings.

If you're looking to get that extra push in the right direction, Maths Boost might just be the thing for you! Maths Boost is a study and revision resource that breaks down the entire syllabus into 5-minute, easy-to-follow videos.

Boost has endless benefits. It's quick and easy to follow, beats procrastination, and contains only examinable material. You can use Boost to prepare for class, catch up on missed material, and revise.

Find out what students who have been using Boost think about it here.