The countdown is now well and truly underway to this year's Leaving Certificate exams which begin in two weeks, on June 3.

Students will sit the agricultural science paper from 2:00p.m-4:30p.m on Monday, June 15.

Agriland caught up with Niall Brennan, an agricultural science teacher who hails from a beef farm in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, to get his advice to students ahead of the upcoming exam.

Brennan, who is also known as ‘Mr AgScience’, said as a teacher he loves to help students with simple memory aids and study habits.

“Like any teacher it's all about getting that ‘a-ha moment’ when we start linking the different topics up from your soil, grassland, fertiliser and then on to your animal production,” he said.

Leaving Certificate

Agricultural science students would have submitted their project, which accounts for 25% of their Leaving Cert mark, last month.

Attention is now focused on the two-and-a-half hour written exam which includes short and long questions.

"There's loads of internal choice, so there's no need to panic at all.

"Then in your long questions you're going to be doing four out of six long questions and then that's going to be 80 minutes hopefully on those.

"Then have just 15 minutes at the start to read the paper and 15 minutes at the end to read over it.

"I really think that's so important, especially at the start. You get the paper, the palms are sweaty and you want to try and build confidence.

"Write little quick bullet points on each of the questions and just settle yourself into the actual exam," he said.

Brennan said that some students think they should do seven or eight hour study blocks.

"Once the exam is over that's it, you have to move on you can't dwell on it.

"Some students that would be messaging me day to day, it's so important to concentrate on what you do know rather than what you don't know.

"Everyone has put in great work the last two years, everyone should have done a great project worth up to 25% so everyone is going into the exam with marks, there's no reason to be stressed," he said.

Topical areas

Brennan described agricultural science as “a very topical paper”, with the exam relating to farming topics that have happened in the last 12 months.

"I think something about Brazilian beef, bluetongue, protected urea and overall farm income will definitely make an appearance on the paper," he said.

When it comes to the short questions, Brennan urged students to revise plant and animal identification, farm technology, farm safety and farm layout.

"They are going to be your bread and butter for the short questions," he said.

However, students will need to give more detail in their answers for the long questions.

"The typical questions there are going to be your numeracy calculations, your milk prices, your average daily gain and experiments.

"Three experiments are going to come up in the exam: one from the soil section, one from the second half of the course and then there'll be an unknown where you'll have to just identify different variables.

"Ag science is definitely moving towards how farmers can reduce emissions, how they can improve their sustainability and improve biodiversity.

"That question is always on the paper so definitely I would recommend students having an answer prepared for that," he said.

Career routes

Brennan also reminded students that there are many different routes and pathways into the career they want.

"Whether you want to do a trade, whether you want to be a yoga instructor, whether you want to be an engineer give it a go there's loads of options out there.

"The only one that's putting pressure on you is yourself," he said.

Here are Niall Brennan's top five tips for students as they face this year's Leaving Certificate:

Study in 25 minute study blocks;
Read full paper before you start and again when you finish;
⁠Revise over topical subjects;
⁠Structure your answers by making your point, explaining it and giving an example;
⁠Don’t feel pressured to follow the crowd.