Leaving Cert Subjects
Leaving Cert | Leaving Cert Applied (LCA)
Practical Group
These subjects are 'hands-on' and involve working with tools and machinery on physical things like wood, metals and plastic. They may involve designing, planning and building things.
Science Group
These subjects demonstrate how to explore nature using carefully planned methods, and teach the basic methods and findings of scientific investigation.
Artistic & Creative Group
These subjects involve developing creativity and the appreciation of the work of others. This involves learning the methods and techniques of the subject and producing your own work using these skills.
Humanities Group
These subjects explore the ways in which humans live and communicate in the world. Human life is examined by looking at our past, our present and into our future. These subjects help people to express themselves clearly and develop their reasoning ability.
Social Group
These subjects explore common issues faced by all people living in society. They develop the skills and knowledge used to manage personal resources and guide human behaviour.
Lydia Peppard, Care Assistant
What subjects did you take in school and how have these influenced your career path?
English, Maths, Irish, French, History, Geography, Home Economics, Commerce (now called Business Studies) - these were subjects that I did for my Inter Cert, (now the Junior Cert), I left school after this. The courses that I took that had career implications were English, Maths, Commerce and Home Economics.
The implications of these were that English is needed for communication, Home Economics prepares one for life experiences and Commerce gives one an understanding of budgets and financial constraints. The subjects are practical ones and have helped me in my career. In hindsight I would have gone on to do my Leaving Cert and would have done Biology as this would have given me a basis to go further with my career, such as studying for nursing.
Sissyane Rodrigues , Sustainability Leader - The Sandymount Hotel
What subjects did you take in school and how have these influenced your career path?
In Brazil, high school subjects are standard for everyone, so the real influence on my career path came during and after college. I first studied International Trade, then graduated in Marketing, which helped me develop communication and project management skills. I also did a minor in International Business and Accounting through an exchange program in the Netherlands. Later, I took a basic front-end programming course, which sparked my interest in tech. That’s when I realized I wanted to shift my career and start a Bachelor's in IT, which I’m currently doing. In hindsight, I might have explored IT earlier, but all these steps gave me valuable experience that I now bring into my current role.
Jonathan Pugsley, Energy Manager
What subjects did you take in school and how have these influenced your career path?
Science Subjects: Maths, Physics, Biology, Tech drawing, Chemistry - I loved these and they are very applicable for my current career path.
Data analysis and problem solving - it's all about number crunching at the end of the day when working on technical problems.
Arts, English, English Literature and French are subjects I was never really interested in at school, but have become more interested in the last 10 years, as they are very useful for communication purposes, and that is now a very big part of my job.