You can be the smartest person in any room, but unless you know how to study, exam success can be elusive.
With this in mind, we got some expert tips on studying for the Leaving Cert from two of Ireland’s leading study websites and their learning experts.
Time management
Luke Saunders is a teacher and the founder of Studyclix.ie. He regularly gives talks to students and schools about study and learning techniques.
“A good study session always begins with a plan,” he says. “Before you begin, write down a realistic plan of what you want to achieve – but not too many things. This can include homework tasks too, as your teacher is giving you homework as part of your study.”
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Mark off items when you finish them.
To stay focused, Saunders recommends the Pomodoro technique – studying in 25-minute timed blocks of study with five minute breaks in between. “It gives you the discipline to stay focused but also reminds you to take regular breaks,” he says.
Dan Sheedy, principal at TheTuitionCentre.ie, advises students to use a timetable to schedule study time.
“Create an extra copy, stick it on the fridge and politely ask family not to interrupt you during study time,” he says.
Sheedy also advises students to avoid multitasking. “Turn off the TV, music and silence your phone,” he says.
Saunders says he encourages students to check how much screen time they have every day.
“I’ll often ask students: who has more than four hours a day on their phone? Half put their hands up. If you’re sleeping for eight hours and in school for seven, this means you can’t fit study in.
“I recommend the Forest app, which allows students to set 25-minute blocks. If they don’t pick their phone up in that time, it plants a tree in their virtual forest, but if they do, it kills a tree.”
Turn off notification settings, he says.
“This means you don’t get a notification for everything, such as when someone has an update.”
Making notes
Sheedy advises students to take short, deliberate breaks to recharge your attention.
“These shouldn’t be too distracting (we’re looking at you, TikTok) but more like a stretch, a snack, or a quick chat,” he says. “Set time limits for your practice questions. Time limits help train your pace, boost motivation and reduce the risk of exhaustion or stress.”
Making your own notes is vital, both experts say.
“Notes are more than just summaries, they are powerful learning tools,” says Sheedy. “One-page summaries and mind maps are great for storing large amounts of information, but do not overload them. Create your notes in a way that makes them easy to remember, using colour, imagery and other visual cues.
“Flashcards should be used to store certain information you must know, such as quotes or the content you keep forgetting. Avoid using them for large chunks of information, as this can overwhelm your brain. Flashcards work best when they are concise, focused and used quickly to reinforce what you need to remember,” says Sheedy.
Sheedy offers three key tips to make good notes:
- Before you start writing, spend 10 minutes reviewing the learning outcomes of the chapter and check past exam papers to see how this topic has appeared before. Use this information to structure your notes and ensure they are thorough.
- To support both attention and memory, make your notes creative. The left side of the brain is engaged by logic, words and facts, while the right side is activated by imagination, images and art. So engage both. Use colour, pictures, diagrams, acronyms; practice teaching the topic to someone else – anything that keeps you interested and helps you remember.
- Finally, practice is essential. Creativity and associations help, but without practice knowledge will fade. Try doing a pretest to see what you know before taking notes, then a retest afterwards to check your progress. This boosts active recall and refreshes your learning. And remember to time yourself to build time-management skills.
Test yourself
“As a teacher for over 10 years I could always tell which students would score H1s and H2s,” says Saunders. “They were the students that were fanatical about finding out where the gaps in their learning were. This is where tools like Studyclix come into their own – they let you test yourself using quiz questions or past exam questions to really get a picture of the things you don’t know.”
Fill in the learning gaps
Here, it’s important to find what works for you, says Saunders.
“Students love short-form video when learning concepts.
“A lot think learning and revision is reading the book, getting a highlighter out. The problem with that is you are scanning over all the available info. The student goes into a recognition trap, because reading the same stuff, they think they know it all, but they have to figure out what they do not know.”
Take a quiz on, for instance, photosynthesis.
“If you were asked to write a balanced equation for photosynthesis, you might try it and realise you are wrong,” says Saunders. “If you hadn’t done that, you might have scanned over it and thought you knew it, but you don’t because you can’t recall.”
Avoid the recognition trap
What is this recognition trap? “I regularly give study skills talks to students in schools I visit,” says Saunders. “I often illustrate a key point by asking the following question in two ways. Q: What is the name of Donald Trump’s wife? Usually only a handful of hands go up.
“I then ask the question in a slightly different way: Q. Which of the following is the name of Donald Trump’s wife? Sabina, Melania, Ivanka, Michelle. Suddenly, the majority of the hands go up. Students know the answer when given the options.
“There is a key point to make here in terms of how students learn. In the first question I was asking students to practise a skill called ‘recall’. Can you recall the name when no options are given? In the second question, I was testing a different skill. Can you recognise the correct name when given a list?
“Exams in Ireland test the skill of recall, not recognition. Frequently, I find students fall into the ‘recognition trap’: they read and reread the same info over and over again and think that, because they recognise it, they know it. They then go in to an exam and when asked to recall something cannot do it.
“This is why I always recommend students keep testing themselves using exam questions – practise that skill of recall,” Saunders says.
Build your memory
Research shows that our working memory is a strong predictor of academic success, says Sheedy.
“This means that understanding how it works and giving ourselves tasks that challenge and strengthen the brain can have lasting benefits both in and out of school.
“It is important to remember that cognitive and memory processes are not fixed. They can be strengthened over time. Just like physical fitness, mental agility improves when we consistently challenge ourselves.
“Puzzles, active recall, practice questions, reading challenging texts, and solving multi-step problems all train working memory. Over time, you may find you can handle more information with less effort,” Sheedy says.
[ Why a personalised study plan is the real key to Leaving Cert successOpens in new window ]
Saunders adds that your brain needs to regularly revisit the information.
“You can’t expect to learn something complex like the dark stage in photosynthesis in December of fifth year, and then remember it in your Leaving Cert more than 18 months later. You should regularly revisit the info every few weeks,” he says.
“There is a lot of evidence from cognitive science that tells us that regular revisiting of information (spaced repetition) commits information and skills to long-term memory – far better than cramming.”
Tracking progress
This should feel lightweight and useful, not like a second job, says Sheedy.
He advises students to keep track of what they have covered, and how many times, using this to adjust and learn. “Give extra attention to topics you find difficult or that frequently appear in exam papers,” he says.
Read the question
Sometimes students don’t know what a question is asking them to do, says Saunders.
“From examiner guidance, the overuse of certain words – for example, writing about Macbeth by saying ‘we see that’ doesn’t show variability of vocabulary. We do a lot of work at Studyclix to create this understanding and awareness, with a new feature on answer guidance coming soon.”
Sheedy advises students to read the question twice, highlighting keywords and action verbs. “Take time to outline your ideas, answer the question directly by showing relevance in your topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph so the examiner can clearly see that you are addressing the question,” he says.
Relax and disengage
“Looking after yourself is crucial, but it often gets neglected because of the workload that comes with studying,” says Sheedy.
“Wellbeing matters because the brain learns best when the body is properly rested, fed and connected. Students who prioritise sleep, nutrition, movement and social connection protect both their mood and their ability to process information.
“Plan in advance when you will study and when you can fit in good sleep, time with friends, and time outside.”
Sheedy says that sleep, balanced meals, exercise and connection matter.
“Staying connected with the people in your life is incredibly important for motivation and overall wellbeing,” he says.
