Did you read this right? Yes in fact you did. It is possible to get 20% of the total Junior Certificate marks before actually ever stepping in the exam hall.

So what’s all this about, it comes down to the project work and orals you have in certain subjects. Here is an example bullet list which will show you what projects and orals you can get marks for before actually sitting the exam. This is based on a student who studies full 11 subjects.

Projects:

• Art- consists of two parts which will both be fully completed before June; a drawing exam part in which you are required to draw a human figure (head/shoulders or full body) and an object (this can either be man made or natural). The other part of the art course is the project you complete throughout the year. The project is worth 75% and the exam is worth 25%. The drawing exam is completed on a set date before June. Read our notes on the art project HERE.
• CSPE- Before sitting the exam you will have already have 60% of the CSPE exam done. This comes in the form of either a CWAB (Course work assessment booklet) or the more popular RAP (Report on Action Project). The marks awarded for the Action Project are such easy marks it would be foolish not getting 55% percent upwards in this. Read the notes for CSPE HERE
  to learn exactly how to get full marks in this.
• Religion- Asides from the actual exam you will be asked to complete a religion journal. This journal is easy to do well in and just make sure you give it to a teacher to correct and make sure it’s perfect before handing it in. This journal accounts for 20% of the exam.
• Science- There are three elements to the science final grade; Coursework A- this is the notebook with all the mandatory experiments written in, Coursework B- these are the investigations you conduct during the year and write up the booklet on, and then the last element is the final exam. Coursework A is worth 10% and Coursework B is worth 25%. This means you can nearly pass the exam without actually sitting the exam. View all the science notes HERE.
• Irish- In the Irish syllabus there is an optional oral exam worth 40%. Not all schools do this but it can be very easily put to your advantage as it happens before the exams which takes that little bit of stress off you as you know you have already done 40% of the exam. The oral is not as hard as initially seems to be and with a bit of rote off learning anyone can do very well in it. View the Irish oral notes HERE.

So you’re probably still wondering how 20% of the entire Junior Cert can be easily achieved before the exams, hand in all these projects and prepare for your oral well and you could potentially reach 23.18% if you were to get full marks in the projects and oral. Use the notes and study tips on this site to help you get as close to that 23% as possible.