Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate Biology (Higher Level) by R贸is铆n Doyle, Biology teacher at The 91制片厂.
- A paper that will have ignited their nervous systems.
- Niche topics were drawn from the full breadth of the syllabus.
This exam will have really challenged students as the question setter has deliberately reached for the more niche material not seen on听previous听papers. It demanded that students have a command of the full course听in all three of sections of the exam.听
Section A鈥檚听short questions听are normally the gentle introduction to the exam that helps students get warmed up. Questions 1, 2 and 3 will have served this function nicely but the level of challenge increases more suddenly than most will be comfortable with. Every question from Q4 to Q7 will pose a considerable challenge as niche elements of the course appear. With such a big syllabus students often try to narrow their focus in the hope of getting lucky with their selected topics, but this paper seemed designed to test every aspect.听In particular a听topic like plants which students often try to leave out was a repeated feature of the paper. This all means that their nervous systems will have ignited听as a fight or flight flutter set the tone for听the afternoon.听
For those that settled into fight听mode,听Section B would have been more familiar and more traditional in approach. Question 8 examined all 7 experiments which continued听that theme of听breadth,听but many will have seen this type of question before.听It听wouldn鈥檛听have been preferred but it听wasn鈥檛听truly novel.听Q9 and Q10鈥檚 styles were almost identical to previous years. Many will have been happy with the enzymes in the former听but challenged by the听effect听of听I.A.A.听on plant tissue听in the latter. Coming out of this section students should have felt a bit more secure but the anxious adrenaline rush from the听previous听section will have had a psychological impact.听
Section C starts with a more comfortable collection of听questions: photosynthesis, respiration, and yet more plant biology. Interestingly this section was much more language heavy with both a lack of graphs and atypically phrased questions.听This could be a more subtle choice like enquiring about 鈥渘aturalists鈥� rather than 鈥渟cientists鈥� in the evolution question to the obscuring in Q16 (c). Parts (a), (b) and (d) were okay, but for the third stage a more conceptual topic mixed with uncomfortably phrased questions will have them puzzling what听exactly听the examiner is looking for.听听Question 15 on Human Reproduction will be a topic that many will have听anticipated, but the given questions were niche so even this will feel like a calibrated win.听
The听Biology听exam听isn鈥檛听a race against the clock, but students will feel tired and embattled leaving the exam hall. There were several places where they will have found quite nice questions but that was not the dominant narrative of the paper.听