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Junior Cycle vs Leaving Cert grinds: when to start

How grinds differ between Junior Cycle and the Leaving Certificate, how each is assessed, and when it makes sense to start — from first year to sixth year.

By the GetGrinds.ie team · Updated

Junior Cycle grinds are usually about foundations and confidence. Leaving Cert grinds are usually about exam technique and CAO points. The best time to start is when a specific gap appears, not in a set year. For most students that means second or third year for the Junior Cycle, and fifth year or the autumn of sixth year for the Leaving Cert.

Junior Cycle and Leaving Cert at a glance

  • Years: Junior Cycle runs from first to third year. The Leaving Certificate covers fifth and sixth year, after an optional Transition Year.
  • Levels: At Junior Cycle, English, Irish and Maths are taken at Higher or Ordinary Level, and most other subjects at a common level. At Leaving Cert, most subjects are offered at Higher and Ordinary Level, and Maths and Irish also at Foundation Level.
  • Results: Junior Cycle results appear on the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement as grades from Distinction to Not Graded. Leaving Cert grades (H1–H8 and O1–O8) convert to CAO points, and your best six subjects count.
  • What grinds focus on: At Junior Cycle, habits, core skills and catching up. At Leaving Cert, marking schemes, timing, orals and holding a level.

Junior Cycle grinds

Junior Cycle subjects are assessed in two ways. There is a final exam in June of third year, and there are Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs), which are completed in class in second and third year and reported separately. Exam grades run from Distinction (90% or more) through Higher Merit, Merit and Achieved (40% or more) to Partially Achieved and Not Graded.

Good uses of a Junior Cycle grind include:

  • Maths foundations, such as algebra, fractions and problem-solving. The Leaving Cert course builds directly on these.
  • Writing in English and Irish: structuring answers, and reading questions carefully.
  • Speaking a language regularly, before the habit of avoiding it sets in.
  • Catching up after illness, a change of school or a change of teacher.

A tutor can help with the skills behind a CBA, such as research, planning and presenting. The work itself must be the student’s own, because the school has to confirm that it is.

Short, regular sessions usually beat a burst of lessons just before the exams.

Leaving Certificate grinds

Most Leaving Cert subjects end with written papers in June. Many also have an oral, practical or coursework component completed earlier in the year. Points come from your best six subjects, and Higher Level Maths carries 25 bonus points at H6 or above. The senior cycle is being redeveloped, and some subjects are moving to new specifications with more marks for coursework. Check what applies to your year group with your school and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).

Common reasons to book Leaving Cert grinds:

  • Working through past papers against the marking scheme, the fastest way to learn what examiners reward
  • Preparing for the Irish and language orals, held in spring
  • Planning coursework and reports, so the student is not rushing them at the deadline
  • Getting ready for the mocks, then fixing what the mocks reveal
  • Staying at Higher Level in a subject that is slipping

When to start grinds: year by year

  • First year: rarely needed, unless a specific difficulty carries over from primary school.
  • Second year: a common point for Maths, as algebra becomes central, and for languages if speaking confidence is low.
  • Third year: targeted lessons before the mocks in the new year and the June exams.
  • Transition Year: a good time to fix weak foundations without exam pressure.
  • Fifth year: best for subjects that already feel shaky, especially Higher Level Maths. The course gets harder from here.
  • Sixth year: oral practice from the autumn, then focused lessons before and after the mocks, and past papers in the final run to June.

Signs it is time to book

  • Marks slipping in the same subject across two or more tests
  • Homework in one subject being avoided or taking far too long
  • A teacher flagging a gap, or suggesting a lower level
  • Missed school that has left a hole in the course

Finding the right tutor on GetGrinds.ie

  1. Open a subject page, such as Maths or Irish.
  2. Choose a tutor who lists the right level on their profile: Junior Cycle, or Leaving Certificate.
  3. Book online or in person and pay securely. Then use the lesson thread to tell the tutor the level, the topics and the deadline.

Official information on both exams is published by the State Examinations Commission (timetables, past papers and marking schemes) and the CAO (points and applications).

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