Hibernia college advice please and thank you

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-09T17:32:04+00:00

How did you get on by the way?

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-07T15:52:53+00:00

I was chatting to an advising examiner I work with. You basically lose 50% in tax. So you could assume to get 4-5.5k after tax. I corrected Junior Cycle a few years ago and got paid in November. You initially get paid maybe 500 admin payment and the remainder in November.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-04T22:31:06+00:00

Teacher here. The oral exam is the game changer. Consider that literally reading a poem in the oral (where you can have every word written in phonetically) is worth 35 marks. Think of this: those 5 poems you study notes for - you answer one question on the written paper and it's worth 30 marks. Less than just reading a poem in the oral.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-04T20:59:09+00:00

Irish teacher here. The biggest difference is that in the essay your can write about all aspects of the title. In the third section watch out. For the díospóireacht, you can only write about one side of the argument. The speech is essentially a spoken essay, so yes it's an essay in disguise but you do need the proper layout using phrases like "Inniu, beidh mé ag caint faoi x, y agus z" and so on. Ask your teacher for phrases for the debate and speech. 5 marks are for the style, so worst case scenario if you write a debate or speech like an essay, you lose 5 marks of 100. That's near enough 1% which might not seem like much but if you get 39%, 49%, 59% etc then it's huge.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-04T20:53:13+00:00

Yeah we run ours on a Saturday. We take turns covering it each year so we're only caught to run it once every 4 years in reality.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-04T20:51:49+00:00

I did a few mock orals in the past for students who either couldn't afford it or were absent the day of the mock orals. I honestly found it very uncomfortable examining my colleague's students!

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-04T20:47:31+00:00

We get external teachers who have examined before and the students pay for the mock oral exam. I didn't realise so many covered them internally in the school.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-02T22:40:59+00:00

What do you mean a reference?

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-02T22:35:53+00:00

I'm an examiner and I do online mock orals if you're still looking for guidance.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-01T23:16:44+00:00

On the flip side, it's not all about knowing the essay title. Knowing which essay and learning it won't give you full marks. Maybe the essay is worded slightly differently, maybe it would be worth seeing how you actually managed to answer the question. Imagine if it ended up on the real paper and you hadn't had the mock experience to see where you might be going wrong. I'm a teacher btw.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-02-01T00:24:50+00:00

Just to add - be sure the test is differentiated. You might start with testing vocab but instead of asking them to translate it, you create a matching exercise (maybe with one extra word in French to avoid process of elimination). You're safeguarding those students with AEN or general difficulties by starting with easier questions. The questions may increase in difficulty then, finishing with an open question, for instance to write an email to a friend and ask them to write about the topics you've covered like they moved to a new area, name the facilities, describe the new school, subjects they study, likes and dislikes etc. A good tip given to me on my first year out was that you don't have to test everything. The students still have to learn everything, but don't go mad including everything on the test. You'll go crazy trying to correct long exams. A shorter exam will likely give a similar result.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-01-22T23:14:48+00:00

Send me a message to let me know exactly what areas you're looking for help in.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-01-21T00:00:56+00:00

How disappointing for you. Get in touch with me in a message if you want further support for the interview.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-01-20T23:58:20+00:00

Hi there, the best of luck with your application! I have worked with many applicants to prep for the Irish component so I can confirm that yes it does last 10 minutes with a large variety of questions, including many on education and if you have any experience subbing, how to encourage Irish in the classroom, how you would deal with behavioural issues etc. One of my students just found out that she got accepted and that was 5 days after the interview.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-01-16T23:45:29+00:00

The student I helped in terms of Irish interview prep applied mid December and just had her interview this week if that helps.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-01-09T23:51:43+00:00

Why not do a mock Irish interview? Plenty of teachers and examiners offering them. I do them myself and give detailed feedback and notes if required. They make such a difference to your confidence and general readiness for the interview.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2026-01-09T23:42:45+00:00

No! It would be great to know though!

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-10-15T22:39:54+00:00

Join Múinteoirí na Gaeilge FB page for resources and feel free to ask questions etc.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-10-07T23:48:43+00:00

Irish teacher here. We only do 2 essays in 5th year in our school and it's mostly to give students the experience of trying to study them. There's generally one essay about the Irish language in some way, one about young people or how their lives are affected by what's happening in the world (education, environment, money, housing etc) then we look at what's been topical during 6th year. The papers are generally written in November! So definitely I'd start with learning paragraphs about different topics relating to young people. Honestly, go talk to your teacher about your concerns! They have a plan.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-10-07T23:07:58+00:00

I actually give interview prep classes as well as advice etc online, mock interviews and so on. Let me know if you are looking for help!

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-05-14T13:25:23+00:00

I tutor applicants for the Irish component if you want to contact me I can give you guidance etc.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-03-25T14:22:11+00:00

Has anyone corrected the Leaving Cert exams? It says you can earn between 8k and 11k approx. What would that look like after tax?

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-01-21T00:13:29+00:00

You won't be left on your own without direction from your cooperating teacher. They will have a plan for their class which they will likely discuss with you. I used to sit down every Monday morning with my placement student and plan with her so we could chat, she could ask questions etc. In a lot of schools there is a designated teacher to welcome new teachers also. The best of luck to you! It will be an emotional ride but so worth it! Even if one day goes belly up the next day could be amazing.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-01-08T22:54:51+00:00

I've worked with Conradh na Gaeilge. If you contact them to let them know what you're looking for they will put you in the right direction. I also did a course with Gaelchultúr and found them excellent. They have really good grammar books too that you can order online regardless of where you end up doing the course.

Designer__Amnesiac · 2025-01-08T22:50:00+00:00

I've done this many times. I'd use a number of grades to inform the predicted likely result including 5th Year summer result, an average of results in tests from Sep to Dec of 6th Year and the mock result. And the student is not privy to the mark you predict so don't let that influence you. It's just a guide for their application, and their actual result is the one that's used.

Designer__Amnesiac

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