Applied Maths

Tips for Students

        Applied Maths is a fantastic subject. It goes very well hand-in-hand with Maths, because it’s all about problem-solving (an important part of the Leaving Cert Maths course).

        Applied Maths is not just for the Leaving Cert, it is for life. If you do take on this wonderful subject, you will pick up skills that will help you in later life, whether you study business, medicine, engineering, law, Maths or whatever. Nowadays, Applied Maths graduates are snapped up by the banks and investment companies, because Applied Maths students have the skills that these companies require: to solve complex problems using mathematics as the tool.

        Many students study Applied Maths outside the timetable. Some study it on their own without help. It can be done. Go for it! The book will be a great help.

The textbook Fundamental Applied Mathematics is (by a long way) the best-selling Applied Maths book in Ireland. It has plenty of well-graded exercises to suit all students. It explains the concepts in simple terms, making this subject reasonably accessible.  The new syllabus (which commenced in 2021) is a wonderful blend of traditional mechanics and 21st Century networks, as well as difference equations.  It’s cool.  The Third Edition of Fundamental Applied Maths covers all the new cool stuff thoroughly and clearly.  
If you got Higher Level Maths for the Junior Cert and if you like solving problems, then this is the subject for you. You don’t have to be an Albert Einstein to do it. It is challenging, but the course is reasonably short – but you have to cover 100% of the syllabus, as you have to answer all the questions in the Leaving Cert exam – there is no choice. Furthermore, if you like coding, you’ll like Applied Maths because much of the new material covers algorithms which could be adapted for coding.  

The topics at Higher Level are: Accelerated linear motion, Projectiles, Connected Particles, Collisions, Energy & Power, Circular Motion, Difference Equations, Differential Equations, Networks & Graphs, Optimal Paths. There is a project which will be submitted by each student in 6th Year.  This accounts for 20% of the marks.  There is a chapter about doing the project in the new edition of Fundamental Applied Maths.

A sample paper has been issued.  To view it click here:  https://www.examinations.ie/misc-doc/EN-EX-87958365.pdf

Also, a sample project has been issued.  To view the sample project, click here and then click, under ‘LC Applied Maths 2023’ to see both the Modelling Brief and the Reporting Booklet.
https://www.examinations.ie/?l=en&mc=ex&sc=he#Mathematics60

The Irish Applied Maths Teachers’ Association awards three Gold Medals (with a bursary of €500 towards university education) to the three top students each year in the Leaving Cert Applied Maths exam. The prizes are kindly sponsored by the Ray Kearns Benevolent Fund and the Institute of Education.
        

SAMPLE and PAST LEAVING CERT HIGHER APPLIED MATHS PAPERS

A book containing seven sample and past papers as well as seven projects is available through Folens from September 2024. It contains detailed advice about marks, doing the project, revising and doing the exam. There is also a breakdown (topic-by-topic) of what turned up in all of the papers. Finally, we have the answers (but not solutions) to all of the questions.

The booklet is nearly 300 pages long and uses the precise format as used in the Leaving Cert (with space for the students to write their solutions). Each of the papers has 10 questions (of which students have to do eight) – as will happen in 2025. You can purchase copies of this book through Folens.