Reaction to Leaving Certificate 2026 Geography (H) by Lesley Aslin, Geography teacher at The 91制片厂.
- A challenging selection of short questions was balanced with perfect essay choices.
Geography might no longer be a core subject for Junior Cert, but this paper proves that it is an essential subject for students as they become citizens out in the world.听
How students feel about that exam will depend on the order they approached the sections. Many students will have jumped right to the end to look at the large essay questions and been thrilled with the Geo-Ecology听selections. Both Soils and Biomes were present and were a perfect reflection of the cycle of questions听we鈥檝e听seen in听previous听years.听Furthermore,听the questions had straightforward wording that allowed students to get the pen moving听while听also scaffolding听all the various stages of their essay nicely.听听
Some students prefer to get their bearings by starting with the听short questions听and for them this exam would have started with a steep uphill slog. This听selection听of questions will have pushed them to听an听extent they听won鈥檛听have听anticipated听in a section that is typically steady ground听for the anxious. The inclusion听of听elevation profiles, UV听indexes听(which has never been examined before) and text heavy questions that were more reminiscent of听a听20-mark听task will have made students dig deeper than previous years.听Some instances, such as the effects of isostatic uplift, will have left them unsure exactly what the corrector will be looking for.听听
Between these two extremes, everyone should be content with Part 2: Structured and Essay writing. Most students will do two from Physical Geography and will be happy with the nice bank of topics. The predicted appearance of听Erosion听will be a relief and staples like Rocks and human interaction with surface processes will be familiar. One question on Plate Boundaries harkened back to material they would have covered at the start of 5th听year when they were fresh with听the听topic and so听this 30 marker听will have been seen as a nice听option听by many.听
One of the most notable aspects of the paper was Elective 5鈥檚 questions on migration. This topic听hasn鈥檛听appeared on a paper since 2017 despite being widely discussed听outside of the exam hall. Students who knew the syllabus and the听previous听questions will have found this section very approachable and been able to lay out their 15 SRPs (Significant Relevant Points) effectively. However, some students will have been drawn towards a more discursive approach to these questions which will struggle to garner marks within the precision of the subject and the marking schemes. As with all exams,听discipline听and insight into how the exam interacts with the remit of curriculum was key for success here.听