Expert tips for parents to help their teen prepare for the Leaving Cert

The countdown is on to Leaving Cert 2022. Nicole Glennon asks the experts how parents can support their teenager in this final week.

“Ask can you make them a cup of tea, or if they’d like to take a break before heading into studying for the evening.. Help your teenager move through it.”

After two years of calculated grades, the Leaving Cert is returning to its traditional format this year, with students up and down the country preparing to sit down for English Paper 1 at 9:30am next Wednesday. But while this year’s cohort don’t have the comfort blanket of accredited grades, like their peers from 2020 and 2021 they did have significant disruptions to their schooling with Covid-19, remote learning and uncertainty being the only form of certainty.

Saoirse Brazil Karney, a Leaving Certificate pupil at Cork Educate Together Secondary School, says she and her peers have heard a million times from both teachers and parents “we’ve all been through it.”