Sheer amount of handwriting required in answers can make heads – and hands – acheRobert McDermott suggests the Leaving Cert examinations could begin with another paper instead: 'They talk a lot about innovation in education' Tue Jun 02 2026 - 16:06 • 3 MIN READStress levels for Leaving Certificate students at the moment “range from apocalyptic, this is the end of the world, to blase”, Robert McDermott says.McDermott, an English teacher, is in no way uncertain that having English as the first examination for students does not make the situation any easier.“They talk a lot about innovation in education. Well, here’s one thing: why don’t you mix up the exam a little bit? Why don’t you start with something different?” he asks.“And I think a lot of it is they want the English papers done so that they can get to Athlone so they can be scanned, so they can be sent to the examiners. Because it’s a lot of writing, but it’s a hell of a lot of reading.”One question McDermott is often asked as an English teacher is: “How much should I write? How long does it need to be?” The guideline may be four pages, but the reality is often determined by the size and style of the student’s writing, he says. “I always say, ‘If you answer the question, have you got your introduction? Have you got your six main body paragraphs? Have you got your conclusion? Have you got your thread going throughout that?’”It’s tough beginning with a heavy writing subject, McDermott says. Especially in the age of phones and technology. “Kids don’t actually write in terms of the physical handwriting that we would have done.“The writing is a slog. And in the 25 years I’ve been teaching, talking to kids after Leaving Cert English, they look like they’re punch drunk. They look like they’ve done 10 rounds. They’re bewildered by the whole thing. Their hands hurt. They’re just like, ‘My head is swirling with words and quotes by writers who are long dead’.”For students heading in to paper one on that first day, McDermott says if they are unsure then “do the personal essay”. “Write about yourself and write sincerely – this idea of tell your truth unvarnished.”When it comes to the short story, he says “you’re not going to make up a good story on the day. As Ernest Hemingway wrote, ‘the first draft of anything is sh*t’”.Whereas for the personal essay, McDermott says: “Everybody has or had a mam or dad and a granny and grandad. And they all have holidays that they love. We’ve all been winners and losers. And tell that story, that up and down”. He advises that if students choose to write their essay from “the mouth” that they follow a style similar to poet Paula Meehan who he says is “hotly tipped” to come up in Paper 2. ”It’s a much more down to earth, talking in a language that we can understand. Be understood", he says. And he reminds all students to “know your quotes”.For Junior Cycle students, he says two hours “is too short to write that paper”, but he advises students to at least attempt all the questions. “You don’t get any marks for a blank.”To all exam students, his advice is to not follow the format of the paper. “Do your best questions first,” says McDermott, who teaches at St Andrew’s College in Booterstown, Co Dublin. “And really pay attention to time”.What if first-day nerves kick in and students worry about the level of the paper they’re sitting?“Do whatever’s going to get you through, because in a year’s time, certainly in 10 years’ time, nobody’s going to remember. It’s not going to stop you from getting where you need to go.”IN THIS SECTION