This month, thousands of students - and parents - will decide on Leaving Cert options for next year. Which subjects are easier than others and which are the best for  college? Brian Mooney offers practical tips

Q How many subjects should a Leaving Cert student take?

A. Most schools offer students seven subjects for the Leaving Cert.

In the CAO system, the six highest grades will be used to calculate the student's points, for entry purposes to courses offered through the CAO system.

If students are taking more than one ordinary level paper, eg maths and Irish, and want the option of having six higher-level subjects for points purposes, it might be worth considering taking an extra subject.

This option comes with a health warning. There is no such thing as an easy honour and every subject requires a certain amount of study on a daily basis.

Taking eight Leaving Cert subjects is a major undertaking. If the eighth subject is being taken outside school, one has to take into consideration the time involved in travelling to and from such a grind. All this detracts from the time available to work on the seven subjects taken in school.

Q Should clever students take extra subjects if subject choice is restricted in their school?

A. If there are timetable restrictions, they could consider taking it outside school, provided they factor in an appropriate amount of study time to cover all the subjects being taken. Alternatively, they might consider changing school at the beginning of fifth year to ensure that they get their desired subject choices.

Q. What happens if I don't take honours Irish?

A. Apart from not being able to take a number of higher degree programmes that have Irish as a core entry requirement, the main consequence of not taking higher level Irish is that one is precluded from studying to be a primary school teacher in any of the Irish training colleges.

Q What happens if I don't take honours maths?

A. There are many degree programmes from which you will be excluded if you do not secure a minimum of a D3, or in some cases a C3, in higher level maths. These include many engineering, computer, science, information and computer technology courses, and most degrees that include maths as a core subject.

Students interested in careers that derive from such courses can always start with a Cert programme, which will only require a D3 in ordinary level maths, and provided that they secure a grade of at least 60 per cent in their examinations, progress through to ordinary degree and then on to a higher degree programme, adding only one extra year.

Q. What happens if I do not take a language in addition to Irish and English?

A. The colleges of the National University of Ireland demand a pass in a third language, for entry into almost all of their courses, apart from nursing. These colleges are UCD, NUI Galway, UCC, and NUI Maynooth. Maynooth has dropped the third language requirement for its engineering programmes. UCD is dropping this requirement for all its engineering and agricultural programmes in 2006.

A third language is also required for entry into the cadetship in the Army or the Air Corps.

Trinity College Dublin accepts Irish as fulfilling its second language requirement. UL and DCU, plus all the institutes of technology, do not require a Continental language for entry purposes.

Q What's the easiest subject in the Leaving Cert and what's the hardest?

A. While there is no such thing as easy honours in the Leaving Cert, some subjects such as art and music appear to have a very high success rate.

The performance in language subjects was as follows: Irish 83 per cent, German 79, Spanish 76 per cent and French 71 per cent.

Students who have done particularly well in those subjects at Junior Cert level take them at higher level. The performance in subjects taken by larger groups of students was English 77 per cent, and history, geography, biology and business all with 72 per cent. All subjects at Leaving Cert level require a two-year commitment. There are no short cuts.

Q. What combinations of subjects should a student aim for?

A. Students should attempt to select a well-balanced range of subjects that will leave their career choice options open for as long as possible. Most students take Irish (unless exempted), English and maths. A large majority of students study a Continental language or, for those students coming originally from outside the EU, a native language, if allowed to do so by the State Examination Commission.

In selecting the three remaining subjects, students should study carefully The Irish Times chart of essential subjects for entry to third-level courses - published last January and widely available in schools - to ensure they are aware of the essential subjects for their current desired courses.

Having done that, they would be advised to spread their final three choices across the entire spectrum of business, scientific, liberal arts and practical subjects.

Students should also be mindful of the results of previous examinations and of aptitude tests in determining their subject combination.

Q. How will my subject choices impact on my possible career choices?

A. When you are deciding which subjects to take, remember that this decision will have long-term consequences on what careers are open to you.

Therefore, a decision not to take any science subject or not to take a Continental language will have major implications on the range of careers open to you later on. The same does not apply to business subjects, as most business courses teach all subjects with the presumption that students know nothing. If a student is making their subject choices and has not as yet decided what career they wish to follow, I would advise them to keep all their options open by taking a science and a Continental language.

Q. Any important last-minute advice?

A. Yes. Remember a pass in ordinary level maths is essential for entry to virtually all courses. Every year, more than 5,000 students fall below this level to foundation level maths and a further 5,000 fail ordinary level. Whatever you do over the next two years, don't neglect your work in this subject.