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What to Expect from English in 2025
With the 2025 Leaving Cert Englis paper fast approaching, we’ve analysed trends from 2020–2024, including deferred papers, to give you the most accurate predictions possible. Here’s everything you should focus on.
📚 Paper 2 – Literature
📖 Poetry
✅ Best Strategy: Revise four poets thoroughly.
Why? With five poets appearing on the paper and eight prescribed, knowing four gives you a high probability of being prepared.
🔮 Prediction:
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Most Likely:
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Tracy K. Smith – An American woman, new to the course, her poetry features social issues of the present day.
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Gerard Manley Hopkins – British with strong Irish connections, hasn't appeared in several years.
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Also Likely:
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Eavan Boland – Irish female poet, previously appeared both times she was on the syllabus.
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Emily Dickinson – Frequently examined, though has appeared recently.
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Less Likely:
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Sylvia Plath – Popular among students but has been featured multiple times recently.
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T.S. Eliot – Less commonly answered on, though a favorite for some.
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Patrick Kavanagh and Derek Mahon – Irish poets with recent appearances, making them less probable.
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📝 Advice:
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Revise four poets well, focusing on a mix of gender and nationality to maximize coverage.
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Be cautious about choosing poets solely based on popularity; examiners may tire of repetitive essays.
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Aim to discuss six poems per poet, incorporating quotations throughout your essay.
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Engage deeply with the poems rather than focusing extensively on the poet's biography.
📘 Single Text
✅ Best Strategy: Focus on understanding core themes, characters, and imagery.
Why? Questions can vary in specificity, but a strong grasp of the text's fundamentals will prepare you for both broad and specific prompts.
📝 Advice:
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Character questions are not guaranteed every year.
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Be prepared for both broad thematic questions and specific analytical ones.
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For "King Lear," key themes include identity, sight vs. blindness, loyalty, power, pride, kingship, appearance vs. reality, and imagery.
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Memorize relevant quotations to support your answers.
📗 Comparative
✅ Best Strategy: In 2025, you can focus on one mode of comparison.
Why? Adjustments allow students to answer on one mode (e.g., Cultural Context) instead of two.
📝 Advice:
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Modes for 2025 include General Vision and Viewpoint (GVV), Theme or Issue (TI), and Cultural Context (CC).
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Literary Genre (LG) is not on the paper this year.
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Choose the mode that best suits your strengths and the texts you've studied.
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Ensure a deep understanding of your chosen mode and how it applies across your comparative texts.
📝 Paper 1 – Comprehension and Composition
✅ Best Strategy: Practice various composition styles and stay adaptable.
Why? While certain formats appear regularly, the paper's theme and exact prompts can vary.
📝 Advice:
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Themes are unpredictable; focus on honing your writing skills rather than anticipating specific topics.
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Personal essays and short stories have appeared frequently in recent years, but no format is guaranteed.
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Review past papers to familiarize yourself with the range of possible prompts.
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Develop a repertoire of ideas and experiences to draw upon for various essay types.
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🎯 Extra Tips for Success
✅ Practice is Key: Regularly write essays and get feedback to improve.
✅ Time Management: Simulate exam conditions to build stamina and pacing.
✅ Quotation Mastery: Memorize key quotations for each text and poet.
✅ Stay Informed: Keep up with any further adjustments or announcements from the SEC.
✅ Balance Your Study: Allocate time across all sections to ensure comprehensive preparation.
