This is your exam, so lay the foundations well, writes Kate Bateman, former chairperson of the Association of Teachers of English

The educated person is not the one who knows everything, but the one who knows where to look things up and how to find things out. It was Dr Johnson, I think, who said that, but any one of us can look it up and check it out, which is exactly how you should approach Leaving Certificate English. Read your texts, learn and verify opinions on them.

In the meantime, read the step by step exam guides on pages 3 and 6, heed them, and you will be taken comprehensively through the nitty-gritty of each section of both papers.

Imagine, for one surreal moment, that the Leaving Certificate papers dropped through your letter-box or they were zapped through to your e-mail inbox. You'd devour those questions, look things up, get things right. Of course. But let's get real, they won't! However, there is much you can do to be so utterly prepared that by June you may be longing to get your knees under a desk in front of those blue or pink papers. Just think, by mid-July you'll be in Cannes, Capri or Kerry.

Preparation between now and June

Remember you will be writing this exam on your own; no one is going to help you on the day. Be smart, be independent-minded and get cracking at making hard decisions. Consult the index of the battered poetry anthology and other texts, then write out exactly what you are going to know - nobody can know everything.

List your poems, at least four poems by each of four poets (five or six by your two top favourites). List the important acts, scenes, chapters or incidents of your single text. List the central or crucial acts, scenes, chapters or incidents of your comparative texts. Two or three texts are needed for this section.

When you revise poetry, write out each of your poems. If you do this, you will learn the lines, the verses, the shape, the sentences, the images and the organisation of each one. Always learn one or two things critics or the writer have said about the work - whether it is fiction or drama or poetry you are studying. When you have revised one of your poets, answer an exam question. Repeat the formula for each text: identify the key moments, write them out, know why they are important and then do one exam question from either a mock or a sample paper.

Answering the question on the day

PAPER 1

On the first page of the first paper of the first exam is the theme of the mini, four-text reference library - read it. Then read the texts and study the picture(s) in the light of the theme. Read the short comprehension questions and write the answers to the text you favour. From a different text, decide on the genre (letter, speech, or guidelines) and write the approximately 100-150 words required for Question B. The exam will by now have taken on its own momentum.

Plan to commence the high value, grade-maker, composing question - 100 marks - soon after 11 a.m.

PAPER 2

The secrets of success in the English Leaving Cert examination are: manipulate to maximum advantage - however little or much you know - and use the pronoun "I". This is your exam, the examiner wants to know what you think of Emily Dickinson or Eavan Boland.

In answering, be sure to use "I" or "me", e.g. "I remember the first time I read..." The examiner wants to know what you appreciate about The War Horse, or The Skunk. Write out the question and use the words of the question several times throughout you essay. An extra-terrestrial reading your paper should know what question you are answering! On the Comparative Study question, be sure you do just that: compare, compare, compare.

A word on how the examiner marks your paper: organise your thoughts so that what you write is coherent and fulfills the demands of the task set. The marking scheme divides three ways (30 per cent each), with spelling and grammar accounting for the last 10 per cent. And remember:

•clarity of purpose, which means that relevance is absolutely crucial;

•coherence of delivery, which means how well you continue developing your points, and that you continue to do so over the three or four pages of your answer;

•language use - use lively, interesting words, phrases and sentences. Don't forget to form them into neat paragraphs.