By Eimear Dinneen - 3 minute read5th year is an excellent opportunity to get set up for final year. Although many students will have completed TY and aren't certain how to get back into study mode, there is no need to panic, they'll soon get back into the swing of things.
5th year is the time students must pay attention to and get a feel for the subjects they have chosen. If a particular subject just doesn’t sit well with them or appears to be too difficult, now is the time to seek a change. It is essential to get the mix of subjects right.
Next year, students will be under pressure to choose college courses so it's important to use 5th year wisely and investigate possible careers. To get started, I recommend that students ask themselves the following questions to narrow down their career choices:
What job would I love if I could choose any career?
What job(s) would I hate to do?
What environment can I imagine myself working in?
What are my strengths?
What key elements would form part of my ideal job?
There are a number of tools out there to help students with choosing their next chapter. Below are a few options to consider.
Good tests don’t have to cost much, in fact, most schools will have recommended inventory tests available to students (your child can ask their guidance counsellor). If not, check out The Student Coach’s website.
Guidance counsellors have a lot of information about the different colleges and courses in the country. Having a sit down with them could give your child invaluable insight into what's available to them after the Leaving Cert, maybe even a course they never knew existed. A good guidance counsellor could help your child to think about their strengths, values, passions, etc. and help them relate this information to possible careers.
Keep an eye out for any experiences that may pop up for 5th-year students such as the opportunity to shadow current college/university students on an actual campus. Your 5th-year student could also interview a professional working in a field they are interested in or attend summer schools in courses of interest (colleges may have taster days available on particular courses). 5th year is also an ideal time to visit colleges and get a feel for them. This way, you can avoid open days and visit them on a typical college day. Some colleges will even make a professional available to talk to you if you contact them beforehand.
Most students will be starting 5th year with 7 subjects and many of these will be at higher level. Over the next two years, they will accumulate a lot of information, notes, handouts, etc. Here are some key points to think about:
The volume of information is immense across seven subjects so students should form a habit of summarising each segment or topic as it is discussed in class. I recommend that they write clear summaries and keep them in a file, clearly labelled. They will be a lifesaver by the time the Leaving Certificate exam comes around.
It is never too early to start practising past exam questions, in fact, a lot of students start too late. For most subjects, students should practise past questions after each topic as it could make the difference in getting an excellent grade versus a mediocre grade. Studyclix helps you do this easily by having all of the questions from your subjects categorised into topics so your child can study without the hassle.
These are a great study tool for students to test their knowledge, see what they do know and what topics they need to work harder on. Quizzing is a great study habit for your child to get into early on so that it becomes second nature by 6th year.
If you're curious about other study tools we have available to your child, we've compiled a list of them in one place. The following blog will tell you how Studyclix can help your child study:
The Students Coach has developed a one-stop-shop to provide a comprehensive support programme for all senior cycle students' guidance and study needs. Check out their Career Club where students are fully supported, guided, informed and advised throughout the 2 senior cycle years until they are started in college or otherwise.
Good luck with the year ahead!
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