Reaction to Leaving Certificate 2026 Home Economics by Alice Quinn, Home Economics teacher at The 91制片厂.
- Students who focused on covering the syllabus will find the paper very approachable but those who tried to streamline their work based on past papers will find themselves pigeon-holed.听
Sitting into听their听afternoon exam, students will have opened Section A and been pleased with a very food focused听array听of questions. The first eight questions听mainly approached听the topic from the perspective of nutrients, which narrowed the focus a little but听ultimately was听very fair in what was asked. The听later听stages of the section were broader听but nicely asked. The students were听examined听on听topics ranging from Housing Development to Pensions to Microwaves. For those who had drilled听short questions听as part of their exam preparation there was nothing here that would startle them. The Home Economics exam is a race against the clock and students will be glad there was nothing in this section that could听break听their听momentum.听
Emerging听into Section B some听might stumble over the new verbiage of the questions.听Previous听papers were consistent in their use of 鈥渃omment and elaborate鈥� but听this was replaced by 鈥渃ompare and evaluate鈥�.听While a strong student would recognise these as functionally the same and not break stride, some of the more anxious students might have a moment of pause.听That being said, everyone听will have been delighted by the appearance of听Protein as the听compulsory听question. Last asked in 2020 and before that 2014, this is the first time in a decade that students will have seen this topic in the exam hall. The way it was examined was more accessible with less emphasis on the chemical aspects. 鈥淧rotein鈥澨齭eems to be听plastered on听everything,听so it was a topical choice by the exam听setter,听but students still needed to听know听the material to ensure that terms like 鈥渄eamination鈥� are听adequately听covered.听
Students will be happy with the appearance of听Vegetables听in Question听2听but Part C took a different spin on the topic and asked about spoilage rather than preservation.听听Question 3 was also very topical as it explored issues surrounding Ultra Processed Foods. The question鈥檚 approach was very balanced and invited students to explore the pros and cons involved while also giving them lots of scope to draw together aspects of the course. Question 4 was another听long-awaited return, this time for Budgeting听whose听last appearance was in 2019. Students might be disappointed to not be asked to provide a budget though. The question on changes in consumer shopping was reminiscent of the 2024 paper, so those who听hadn鈥檛听delved as deep into the exam archives will still recognise parts.听
The Elective questions in听Section听C will see many students going straight to Elective 4 (Core) as this allows them to reaffirm the value of the revision they did for the earlier sections.听However听some will have been upset to see Core 3 appear in Part C. This part of the course has never appeared on a June exam paper and only once in a deferred paper. The question was very workable, as was the other听option听for Part听B, but required students to put more faith in knowing the course and making educated guesses.听听
Ultimately, those who focused on covering the syllabus will have found themselves content with the paper. Those who tried to think just in terms of the patterns of previous papers will find themselves stretched to search the corners of their memories.听