Cork student who got eight H1s hails hobbies outside school as factor in his success

Andrew O'Sullivan, with his mother Claire, who received eight H1s in his Leaving Cert at Christian Brothers College, Cork. Picture David Creedon

A Cork student who received an impressive eight H1s in this year’s Leaving Cert exams has hailed his hobbies outside of school as a key factor in his academic success.

Andrew O’Sullivan, from Ballinora in Waterfall, Cork, has urged students to keep up their extracurricular interests as they prepare for their exams, as he believes playing sport kept him focused throughout the year.

The student at Christian Brothers College received his results on Friday as the 2023 results were issued to students across the country.

When asked if he was expecting to have achieved such high marks, Mr O’Sullivan laughed modestly.

“Not really, I was a bit nervous,” he said.

Along with Irish, English, and maths, he also took German, chemistry, physics, applied maths, and accounting, all at higher level.

He now hopes to go on to study engineering at University College Cork when the first round of college place offers is issued to students through the CAO next week.

His secret to exam success? He kept up his hobbies by playing soccer with his school, as well as Gaelic football and hurling with his local GAA club in Ballinora.

“I played a lot of sport during the year,” he told the Irish Examiner.

“Every weekend, I’d have a match to look forward to, so that kept me going through the year.”

“I know some people say you should make more time, or give up the sports, but I don’t really think it's better to. It's better to keep doing something you enjoy. 

I play three sports so I trained two or three times during the week and I’d have a match at the weekend.

He advised other students to consider doing the same. 

“It doesn’t have to be sport. It can be anything really, music, or just something you enjoy, like a hobby. Something that keeps you going.”

In terms of studying, he favoured quality over quantity, listening in class, and getting the work done as teachers required.

“In May and June, I was putting in the hours but there is one piece of advice that I heard before that helped me a lot," he added. 

“Whenever you come home tired, study a subject that you like. If it’s a subject you like, do a few questions, and that will help keep you ticking over.”

When asked why he tackled eight exam subjects instead of the usual seven, Mr O’Sullivan said it was because he "wasn’t too confident about English".

“Both my brothers did eight subjects, so I just carried it on. Obviously, it's more effort but it gives you a bit of security.”

Almost 62,000 Leaving Cert students received their long-awaited results this Friday morning, via the dedicated online portal.

The principal of Christian Brothers College in Cork, David Lordon, congratulated its Leaving Cert class of 2023 as they received their results.

Ten students at the school received the maximum Leaving Cert points of 625, and four have been awarded seven H1 grades.

In total, 144 students are receiving their results today at the school, with 20% obtaining at least 600 points.

“It is a fantastic morning for the lads,” Mr Lordon said.

“It takes a team effort to get results like this and it is a testament to the parents, teachers and especially the students for the hard work they put in over the last few years.

These students faced very challenging circumstances and the Leaving Cert was the first State exam they sat, which makes today’s results all the more impressive.”

Schools around the country remain open for students to offer congratulations or support.

For the Leaving Cert class of 2023, the exams in June were their first experience of State examinations after the cancellation of the Junior Cycle in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Over the course of the pandemic, exam papers have been adjusted to grant students more choice and flexibility during written exams.

However, this reverted somewhat for 2023, with the exam experience being closer to 2019 as there were not as many adjustments to the papers as during the pandemic years.

While no further grade inflation was recorded during 2023, and the overall results are at the same level as last year, the rate of grade inflation remains at 7% across the board when compared to 2019.

This is after four cycles of changes and upheaval to the exams caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

With no major drop-off in results, competition for college places is likely to remain tight again this year when the first round of CAO offers is issued to students next Wednesday, August 30.