Marking schemes and model solutions are a very useful resource for checking solutions when you practise from past exam papers.  It’s a great idea to test yourself by attempting the exam questions yourself, and then checking to see if you got the correct solution.  If you do, and if you used the correct method, then you can be confident in your understanding of that part of the course.  If you got the wrong answer, it’s a great way to see where you went wrong, and to learn from your mistakes.  Of course, if you can’t understand the method on the marking scheme, it’s very helpful to have a look at our video lesson for that question.  We’ve covered the last 9 years of exam papers at Leaving Cert level, and 8 years at Junior Cert / Junior Cycle level.  We’ve also broken down the marking schemes into individual questions on our learning system, to make it easier and more efficient for students to revise.

Solve maths problems

The official marking schemes often show more than one acceptable method. This is handy as students may use different approaches to answer a question, and it’s useful to see alternative methods.

The marking schemes also show you how marks were allocated by the examiners across all parts of all questions in previous exams.  But there’s no real need for you to over-analyse this, as this is something that changes from year to year. The main point to note is that it is not possible to predict the allocation of marks within a question, and in fact the allocation can vary hugely, and in unexpected ways.

As well as this, the more recent “Project Maths” style marking scheme is quite different from the marking schemes used in the past. There are 5 marking scales, with up to 6 categories per marking scale. It’s a lot more complex than the previous system.

To add to the complexity, the 2022 Leaving Certificate exam includes an element of choice, and a different breakdown of marks, due to lost learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, please note that the exam structure for the new Junior Cycle exams is different than that of the traditional Junior Certificate exams.

It’s all a bit complicated, but don’t please worry about it too much!  We’ll help you to deal with it.  First of all, don’t get hung up on the details of these marking schemes. There’s no need. The key thing during your exam is to answer all required questions, make your best attempt even if you are unsure, and avoid the common simple errors.  This will help you to score well in your maths exam and you simply do not need to worry about the exact details of the marking scheme.