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God lads, 5th Year Higher Level Maths is hard.
No doubt about it. The jump from Junior Cycle to Leaving Cert is no joke. Especially if you’re doing Higher Level Maths. Ordinary Level Maths for 5th Year is not as bad a jump, in all honesty. It’s basically the same content, but much easier questions.
And the weird thing is, nobody prepares you for how difficult the transition is from doing JC Maths to 5th Year Higher Level Maths.
But don’t worry. You’re not alone. And more importantly, you’re not stuck. I remember thinking 5th Year Maths was so tough. So, I’ve put together a few hacks for you here.
Let me guide you through what to expect in 5th Year.
The 5th Year Higher Level Maths Course
The 5th Year Higher Level Maths course is almost 80% Algebra-based topics. And algebra really isn’t about numbers or letters. It’s about logic.
Here is a list of the topics most schools study:
- Logs
- Indices
- Simultaneous Equations
- Factorisation
- Area and Volume
- Functions
- The Line
- The Circle
- Trigonometry
Sounds straightforward, right?
Wrong.
It’s anything but straightforward. Topics like can appear really simple at times. But Project Maths places a big emphasis on ‘problem-solving’ scenarios. In other words, trying to relate the topic to real life. They want you to think. Expect the questions to be long. Expect them to be difficult. And expect to be confused by them. It’s like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube in the dark.
The Maths topics are the same as they were for the last 30 years. But how they are written in question format is very different. And this is where the problems start.
“But I thought I was good at Maths?”
Yeah. Loads of students do. Then 5th Year Maths comes along. Most people fly through the Junior Cycle. They may struggle with Maths, but most students don’t fail. You come out of the exam thinking you’re the next Pythagoras. But 5th Year Maths is challenging.
The questions are designed specifically to confuse you. They’re not testing your memory anymore. They’re testing your logic.
The Irish Times wrote about how the Leaving Cert 2025 Paper 1 Maths exam was full of logic-based out of the box style questions. Something that students struggle with constantly.
At Breakthrough Maths, we provide monthly masterclasses for all Year groups. We’ll focus on one topic (requested by students) and cover everything you need to know. Check out our 5th Year Higher Level Maths video on algebra below.
Should I do Higher Level Maths or Ordinary Level?
The question that I get asked the most often. Well let’s make the decision easy for you:
If you find 5th Year Maths really tough, but can handle the challenge, stay with Higher Level. It’s worth it alone for the CAO points.
But if you’re barely scraping a pass, dread Maths class, and don’t need the CAO points? Ordinary Level will save you from a lot of unnecessary stress.
Just make sure that you’re making the decision based on your ability, not someone else’s opinion. If you genuinely can’t handle the content, fine. Totally understandable. But if your parents are forcing you to do Higher Level Maths just for the sake of it, no point. The stress it causes will hinder your performance in other subjects.
And if you’re not sure yet? Give it until Christmas. Power through a few exams. Look at your results. Then make a decision.
I’ve also made this video here to help you decide if you’re unsure.
How to study for 5th Year Higher Level Maths
Let me be very clear:
Your best friend this year is examinations.ie. Go to their website. Download as many past exams as you can. Print them out. Stick them to the wall if you have to. And practice them over and over.
I can guarantee you, your teacher is not making fresh questions for class tests. They’re too busy to do that. They go online. They hit copy and paste. And give you questions from the past exam papers. Don’t waste your time waiting for your teacher to go over a topic again. There’s rarely time for that. However, the practice you get from doing past exam papers is priceless.
It’s so cheesy, but practice makes perfect. And if you want to get good results, you need to practice. Again. And again. And again. Get used to the feel of the real questions. It’ll prepare you for the Leaving Cert well in advance.
“How much study should I do each day?”
Well it’s relative depending on how much you’re struggling. But most students need about 45-60 minutes of study twice a week for Higher Level Maths. But whatever you do, don’t stare at notes. The key is active practice. One hour of doing practice questions is better than ten hours of memorising notes. Pick one topic. Do a past paper question on that topic. Move on. It’s that simple.
Even though you’re in 5th Year. You’re studying for your Leaving Cert at the end of the day. So don’t cram. And don’t waste time. Remain consistent. And the confidence will come.
The Maths Will Get Much Harder
Every student has a point where they hit a wall. It’s inevitable.
You’ll look at a question. You will feel totally lost. And your stomach will drop.
“I don’t know what they’re asking.”
“This makes no sense to me.”
“This wasn’t in the book.”
But the great thing is that that’s totally normal. You should embrace being lost in questions. That’s the whole point of the question. But the trick is to find your way back.
If you look back at the previous 3 to 4 years of exams, you will start to well up with tears. You won’t have a clue what’s going on. But trust me, the Maths is the same.
If you get that lost feeling in an exam, slow down. Take a deep breath. And ask yourself the following questions:
- What topic is this?
- What are they looking for here?
- What formulas might help me?
- What is the first step?
And that will help you so much. Because 80-90% of your marks are generally given for your workings. The Maths you do before you get a final answer. Because even if you get the wrong answer. Even if you use the wrong sign. And even if you just write the formula. You will not be penalised. Don’t freeze. Don’t panic. Just write something. Write anything that you know.
Everyone panics and thinks it’s about the final step. Getting the correct answer. But it’s not. It’s about the first step. After all, I got 430 points in my mocks and managed to get 600 points in the real thing. So, I promise this stuff works. Read more about my LC experience here.
The Christmas & Summer Exams
The 5th Year Higher Level Maths Christmas & summer exams catch a lot of students off guard. It’s the first proper ‘big test’ of the Leaving Cert cycle and your teachers will use it to wake you up.
As I’ve said, you can expect past paper questions. Even if they haven’t covered the full course yet. The best way to prep? Start now. Go online. Find exam-style questions based on the topics you’ve done so far. Time yourself. Mark them using the actual marking schemes from examinations.ie.
The Christmas tests aren’t about perfection. They’re about recognising patterns in your exam. The same types of questions come up again and again. And trust me, your Christmas exam will be made up of them. Don’t cram the night before. Instead, do 10–15 exam questions over 2–3 weeks. That’s how you build confidence. Slowly. Consistently. Before you know it, you’ll be ready for the summer tests.
When it comes to summer exams, you should know what to do. No topic should be a surprise on the exam. Will you see challenging questions? Absolutely. But nothing that you haven’t covered in class already. There’s a lot of pressure on the mocks, so use the 5th Year summer tests as a mock for the mocks. It’s like a dress rehearsal for next June. So take it seriously. It will be tougher and longer than your Christmas exam. But that gives you the opportunity to test yourself. In the state exams, you’ll have to switch gears quickly, under pressure. Do that now in your summer exams. Be prepared for the intensity next year.
Maths Formulae for 5th Year Higher Level Maths
“What formulas do I need to know for the exams?”
Another question that I get asked all the time. For some reason, students panic when it comes to remembering a formula. So don’t worry, I’ve compiled them in this blog. Read it here.
You’ll also be given log tables in the exam. And they’re essentially a key to getting more marks. If you know how to use them. But some students don’t even bother to look at the log tables before the exam. They just try to wing it in the exam. So on the day, they open them and are totally lost. Then they spend ten minutes flipping through them and wasting time.
Don’t be that student.
Take some time to go through them. You don’t need to know them inside out. Just know what pages the formulas are on. The layout is more important than the formula itself. Treat the log tables like a second brain.
Constructions & Theorems for 5th Year Higher Level Maths
Don’t ask. Yes, they matter. Yes, they’re important to know.
Will they ask you to do an actual construction in your 5th Year Higher Level Maths test?
Maybe.
Will they sneak it into a wordy problem about geometry or shapes?
Absolutely.
They may not directly ask you to work with constructions and theorems. But they will be interweaved in questions. At least the big ones. So, you need to know how to use them, no doubt about it.
I’ve made this short blog on the constructions and theorems that you need to know.
Final Advice
I’ll leave you with this. 5th Year Higher Level Maths is not about being the smartest in the class. It’s about getting used to being uncomfortable.
Knowing that you can push through the confusion. Push through the long-winded questions. And push through the challenging questions. If you can do that, you’ll come out of the exam with a fantastic result.
And I’ll say it again. Do past exam papers. It’s the best way to study. I guarantee you every single question on your 5th Year Higher Level Maths exams will be a previous exam paper. I guarantee it. Teachers do not make up special questions to trick you. They are lazy. They just use old exam questions.
So, get moving. Start now and not the day before your mocks. Because the effort you put in now, will save you hours of stress later.
Still Confused?
If none of that makes any sense to you, I can break it down in 30 seconds. Watch my video below.
And if you’re still lost after that, I’d encourage you to try one of our 5th Year Maths grinds. The first class is free, so give it a go. Our classes have transformed so many students grades.
Contact the Breakthrough Maths team here. We’re not here to lecture you, just here to help.
TJ— CEO of Breakthrough Maths.
