Leaving Cert mocks 2027: when they are, whether they count and how to prepare

Each card is today's short timed mock for that subject: 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks, marked when you finish.

When are the mocks in 2027?

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) runs the June exams, not the mocks, so each school sets its own mock dates. Most hold them after Christmas, between late January and the February mid-term break, and the timetable usually runs over one or two weeks. Ask your year head for yours.

Until the SEC publishes the 2027 timetable, last year's official dates are the best guide to the shape of the year. These are from the Department of Education and Youth.

If your orals fall at Easter again, your mocks are the last full practice before them, so some schools add a mock oral for each language.

Do the mocks count?

No. Your Leaving Cert results come only from the SEC's own exams and assessments: the written papers, plus orals, practicals and coursework in subjects that have them. CAO points come from your six best results in one sitting of the Leaving Cert, and mocks play no part. If you are seriously ill or bereaved in June, the SEC's deferred exams are the safety net, not your mock grade.

Mocks matter for what you do next. They help you and your teachers decide between Higher and Ordinary level, they show which topics are costing you marks, and they let you practise sitting a long paper with the clock running.

What changes in 2027

• Extra choice stays. The Department has confirmed that the adjustments of recent years continue for 2027. The written papers keep their usual length and structure but give more choice, so check that your mock paper follows the 2027 arrangements for each subject.
• New Biology, Chemistry and Physics. These are revised subjects, examined in their new form for the first time in 2027. Each has an "in Practice" investigation worth 40% and a written exam worth 60%, and they get no extra-choice adjustments.
• No past papers for the new subjects. The SEC published sample papers in April 2025. Your mock may be the first full paper in the new format you sit, so treat it as a chance to learn the layout.

Are the mocks harder than the Leaving Cert?

They often feel it. You sit them with a third of sixth year still to go, before you have finished the course or revised it all. Mock papers also come from companies, not the SEC, so the style and difficulty can differ from the real thing. Read your result as a snapshot, not a forecast.

Reading your mock grade

Mocks are usually graded on the same scale as the Leaving Cert. These are the bands and the CAO points for each grade.

Each band is 10% wide, so a few marks can be worth a lot. A Higher level mock at 58% is an H5, worth 56 points. Two more percentage points make it an H4, worth 66: that is 10 extra points from what is often one careless slip. Higher level Maths also earns 25 bonus points at H6 or above.

When you get your scripts back, sort every lost mark into one of three piles: didn't know it, knew it but slipped, or ran out of time. Each needs a different fix, and that list is worth more than the grade.

How to prepare for the mocks

1. Work from SEC past papers and marking schemes. They show what the real examiners give marks for. The chief examiner's reports also say where students lose marks.
2. Practise whole questions. Long questions on Leaving Cert papers have several parts, and the later parts build on the earlier ones.
3. Time each question. Work out the minutes per mark for each paper and stick to it, so one question can't eat another's time.
4. Know the Formulae and Tables booklet. In Maths and Applied Maths, learn what the booklet gives you, and what it doesn't, before the day.
5. Revise the new subjects from the sample papers. In Biology, Chemistry and Physics, they are the only official papers in the new format.

Use a daily paper as a short timed mock

A new paper appears every day for each Leaving Cert subject we cover. Maths: Algebra and Functions, Calculus, Statistics and Probability and Complex Numbers and Proof, plus Applied Maths. Physics: Ordinary level, Mechanics and Waves and Electricity and Modern Physics. Chemistry: Ordinary level, Atoms, Bonding and Moles and Organic and Equilibrium. Biology: Ordinary level, Cells and Molecules and Physiology and Genetics. And Computer Science.

1. Clear the desk and keep only what the exam allows, including the Formulae and Tables booklet for maths subjects.
2. Start the timer and don't pause it.
3. Mark the paper, then read the marking scheme for every part where you dropped marks.
4. Sort each lost mark into a pile, and sit tomorrow's paper the same way.

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