What students are saying (in their own words).their own words)

• i have my junior cert coming up. i feel its pointless,teachers put so much strees on us.im still gettin homework,even though im supossed to be studying aswell,what a joke we can only do so much.sunday i spent 10hours doing homework and how was i supposed to study????teachers dont care they just want to get the most A'sas possible,so they can say to the other teachers "i'm a BETTER teacher than you".they dont really care!!!!!good luck to all of you and the more you stress the more it'll mess your exams up and in september if a teacher says there disapointed with your grade at least you know you've done your BEST!!!!!!!! ... Mary mac....

• I'm getting really worried about my JC and i find it really hard to study but a least it will be over in 3 week. ... Worried

• i am so so so dead in my junior cert. good luck to every one else doing their exam ... Dead

For da leavin u must try and give it ur best shot, but im relly disgusted on how some of the courses are changin next september dat mens da leaving certs of 2005 cant relly repeat there leavin- therefore adding more pressure. Either da points will ave 2 cum down or da papers made a little easier. ... anon

Oh my God What is the point of exams? People should be tested on their overall performance over the year not a single test on one day. it puts too much pressure on the students and it's completely unreliable. If your sick or distracted or having a bad day or even just having a bad test you could get a low grade or even fail. And thats what goes on your permenent record not that your usually very good, just that you failed that test. I'm very good at irish but had a bad test at christmas and was put down to Pass. i'm now so bored i do hardly anything in irish class. there's also a lot of pressure from parents to do better than they did. if your parents are hassling you about exams just tell them that you're doing your best and instead of pressuring you to do better why not sit down and help you to do better. remember that they only want whats best for you and that they still love you-even when they're giving you stick about exam results. ... Optimistic from sligo

• some people suffer from loads of stress for there J.C and there L.C .its enough doing them so i dont think that we should have exams in 1st 2nd and 5th year i think it is unfair and justs puts more stress on us ... Emily

yeah, i'm so stressed i can't even eat properly. it's so stupid, i wish there wasn't such a big deal made out of it. ... Just Wolf

i find history the hardest so much to write and so little time. its impossibleto do well in it and panic at the same time. ... siobhan sweeney

Theres worse things then the leaving cert! ... Emer

O.K. Calm down every1!! look if every1 studys 4 as long as they can(4 me dats 2hrs max!) and answer what they can they'll do fine.

i say apply for a few courses that u would like, even f its a hobby f yours, then f u dont get what u want u can do something ud enjoy 4a yr r 2 then apply as a mature studient.

Just take a deep breath + CHILLAX, every thing happens 4 a reson, f it seems like the end f the world, its not! it always coms good n d end! AL U CAN DO S UR BEST. ... anon xxx

i dont care about the jo. cert its nothing really and its the ones later on that u worry about ... i just wish my mum and dad felt the same ... The Lord Duke Of The Hobo Empire