Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate Accounting (Higher Level) by John Taylor, Accounting teacher at The 91制片厂.
- Students who had put in the time to work through the past papers will find themselves in familiar territory.听
Consistent with previous years,听this paper听was designed to assess students鈥� understanding rather than catch them out. It听provided a good opportunity for those听who had regularly and diligently practised听Accounting听questions over the two years to听demonstrate听their knowledge, refine their exam technique, and complete the required tasks within the听allocated听time.听
In Section 1, students as usual had a choice between Q1 on the preparation of final accounts or the option of completing two 60 mark questions. As guaranteed again this year, students who chose to do Q1 were given two options and this year these related to the Company Final Accounts and Limited Company including a Manufacturing Account. Both options were straightforward and reflected questions asked in the past. The trial balance in both contained nothing unusual but students will have needed to read these carefully to spot annual insurance included a prepayment (Q1A), VAT was a debit implying money owed to the firm (Q1A and Q1B), and the debtors figure included the provision for bad debts (Q1B). There were the standard nine adjustments in both questions, and these would all have been familiar but again careful reading and thinking was needed. Students were not given the depreciation rate on equipment but instead were required to deduce this year鈥檚 depreciation from the cost/book value and accumulated depreciation figures given. This was a nice variation but should not have troubled students who thought it through logically. A contingent liability was included as an adjustment but students should have been familiar with how to do this from their work on published accounts (Q1A).听
The three optional 60-mark questions consisted of Cash Flow, Club Accounts and Creditors control)听and听students听attempting听this听option听would have been pleased. Control accounts may have been a surprise for some students as they appeared as a听60 mark听question last year also听and such repetitions are听very rare. The theory element of all three questions in this section was straightforward and would have been asked before although the theory in the control account question may have proved a little testing for some students.听
In听Section 2, students听were required听to complete two questions. The three questions in听Section 2 consisted of Interpretation of accounts which had been guaranteed, Published Accounts and the Correction of Errors. Again, most students will have been expecting these as possibilities and should have had them prepared. The questions themselves were听very nice听and did not听contain听anything that students would have not seen and practiced in previous years questions.听
The ratios in听Question 5 were very straightforward and Q5(b) concerned the debenture holders. Part (c) theory concerned the difference between a public and private limited company and the repayment of a debenture loan which most students would have found very manageable. Q6听was on the听anticipated听Published Accounts听in which the purchase of land was included and听consequently听students would just need to be careful when calculating the depreciation on the premises. Similarly, returns outwards were included in the trial balance which students will need to have remembered to include in the calculation of cost of sales.听Q7 on Correction of Errors was a very typical question and听contained听nothing that students would not have come across before.听Error (iv) needed some thought as both payments were from a private bank account and therefore classified as capital introduced and may have challenged the weaker students.听It is in moments like this that those who had done a large volume of examples as preparation will have noticed that variation and reacted within the tight time constraints of the exam.听
Moving into Section 3,听Q8 was on Job Costing and Under/Over Absorption听This was听a听very nice听question and very doable within the time听as it听reflected听similar questions听asked in the past. Many students will have been delighted to see this question appear in such a traditional form听meaning that while names and number might have been altered, the format of the task was identical to past questions.听This familiarity was also听evident听in听Q9听which听was a combined Cash/Production Budgeting question which students would have practiced.听In both cases the theory questions were very approachable without any twists or stings.听
Overall, this was a fair paper the really reflects the skill set taught in Accounting. Students who looked to build that skill set will have been pleased that their hard work paid off.听