Leaving Cert Economics wrapped up week three of the 2025 state examinations. Here Louisa tells us how it went from them.
The Leaving Cert Diary series, with thanks to the Irish Second-Level Students' Union, gives young people the chance to tell us how it went for them in their own words...
Read Louisa's blog here...
This morning, I sat my Leaving Cert Economics exam, alongside my 7 classmates and a few thousand students around the country. The exam is always relevant to current affairs so I know some of us were definitely a bit nervous to see what would come up as it can be quite different year to year.
Overall, I found there was a lovely spread of micro and macroeconomics, and it was very approachable. I had previously struggled with timing for the subject especially in the mocks however I managed to attempt extra short questions and one extra-long question which was a pleasant surprise. There were a large number of tick-the-box questions which I think helped with the timing of the paper.
The short questions covered a really broad range of topics, there were some from the very beginning of the course such as positive and normative statements, and sustainability right through towards the other end with exports and inflation. The presence of a market structure question on oligopolies in the short answer section wasn't something I had seen before in the past papers, but I was definitely especially happy about! Question 10 on the economic cycle contained aspects dipping into economic history which caught me off guard as I felt it was slightly out of sync with the other current affairs questions, however like many other questions this had a tick the box aspect as well which gave a helping hand.
Onto the long questions, I attempted 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16. Upon seeing a short question on market structures, I was worried that they would be omitted in the long answer section, however a monopoly diagram showed up in the first one. With a focus on the healthcare sector this was undoubtedly quite topical. Question 12 focused on National Income, this was an area that took me a while to wrap my head around in class and as such I had spent considerable time revising. I was happy to see it however the last part of a) did throw me at first.
Question 13 covered a wide range of theory and applying knowledge to both economic and social contexts of global trade and aid. As a politics student also I quite liked the overlap here. Question 14 covered a wide range of the course, both micro and macro with some very accessible diagram and formulae questions. Lastly, Question 16 really zoomed in on the micro, focusing on costs in both the short and long run, with a graph on this and economies of scale. In total, I found the long questions to be very fair, and to contain lots of opinion, analysis and application of theories.
I feel the exam went well for me personally and it was definitely one that rewarded a lot of consistent study. I’m also very glad it happened to be a morning exam today as I can now go and enjoy the sun and warm weather before my final exam on Tuesday.
If you want to review your exams or read back our diary series, visit RTÉ Learn. Make sure to take time to unwind over the next few days.
The ISSU
Founded in 2008, the ISSU is the national representative body for school students in the Republic of Ireland. The ISSU is led by students, for students.
