Having balance. If you have hobbies or extra-curricular activities that you enjoy doing, keep doing them for as long as possible. They'll make the year bearable and they will force you to use your study time more effectively. Just make sure you recognise when it all gets too much.
Looking out for friends: different friends will get stressed out at different times. Mind each other. You're all in it together.
Keeping on top of things. Don't study morning, noon and night from the very start. You'll burn out. Instead, make sure you really understand and learn everything that is being taught at this stage. Do revise but pace yourself.
Using time wisely. You are better to really focus for one or two hours rather than spending five hours colour-coding your study timetable.
Mixing it up. A change is as good as a rest. If you are studying maths, switch to English after an hour.
Treating the mocks like the real thing. Study really hard for the mocks. They are close enough to the exams for the work to really make a difference. The pressure of the Leaving Cert can be exhausting, so get as much as you can done early.
Understanding. Make sure you understand everything. Learning by rote will get you only so far. You need to have the knowledge but you also need to know how to apply it.
Not taking risks. Predicting questions that you think will come up, for example, is a big risk. You may get away with it or you may not.
Knowing the papers. The exam is not the time to be figuring out which parts of questions you should be doing. Be familiar with the layout beforehand.
Knowing what works for you. Ruth studied by taking notes and writing essays because she found by doing that she really remembered what she studied. Find out what works for you. It could be reading out loud, it could be writing, it could be constructing diagrams. Leave the highlighter pens out of it unless they do actually help you to remember important things.
Working very hard indeed. Don't believe the people who get all As and say they did no work. There is no way around the fact that in order to achieve your best in the Leaving Cert you have to put in the work.
