Subject Group: Social
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.
The Home Economics syllabus provides students with knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes necessary for managing their own lives, for further and higher education and work. The learning experiences in home economics develop flexibility and adaptability in students, prepare them for a consumer-oriented society and provide a learning foundation for a wide range of careers in food, textiles, science, design, social studies and tourism.
The subject is an applied subject combining theory with practice. It is concerned with the management of resources (material and human) to meet the physical, emotional, intellectual, social and economic needs of individuals and families. The study of home economics emphasises the interdependent relationships that exist between individuals, families and their immediate and distant environments.
Third Level Entry Requirements This subject is not an essential requirement for any courses in the CAO system.
Subject Content
The syllabus consists of Core Areas and Three Electives:
The Core Areas
1. Food Studies - 45% 2. Resource Management and Consumer Studies - 25% 3. Social Studies - 10%
Electives
1. Home Design and Management - 20% or 2. Textiles, Fashion and Design - 20% or 3. Social Studies - 20%
Students opt for one Elective area only. Those choosing the Textiles, Fashion and Design elective must produce a garment which will be inspected and graded.
The Elective areas are extensions of the content contained in the Core Areas and provide students with the opportunity to study certain topics in more depth.
As part of the Core Areas, a mandatory section comprises of Practical Coursework which must be completed during the two years and will be sent to the Department of Education and Science for inspection. This is 20% of the final examination marks.
Exam Structure
The Leaving Certificate Home Economics (Social and Scientific) syllabus is examined as follows:
1. Written Exam paper – 80% The written examination consists of three sections:
Section A 12 short questions – Students answer 10. These deal mainly with all the core areas of practice. (60 marks allocated)
Section B 5 questions - Students are to answer Question 1 (Food Science and Nutrition) and any other 2 questions (from the other Core Areas). (180 marks allocated)
Section C 3 questions - Students are to answer 1. Elective question, based on which Elective was chosen to do in class. (80 marks allocated)
2. Practical Coursework - 20%
This is worth 20% of the final mark – as stated already; this is submitted in journal form earlier in the Leaving Certificate year.
Comment
It would be advisable for students opting for Leaving Certificate Home Economics to have completed the Junior Certificate course. Some of the areas covered on the Junior Cert Home Economics course are continued at Leaving Certificate level.
Much of the course is theory based – students are often under the illusion that “it’s all cooking” and find it quite a shock when they realise even the Practical Section has to be written up and presented – because there is no Practical Examination as at Junior Cert. Level.
It is a wide course, covering many life skills. I find students enjoy the subject but they must be willing to learn and to undertake quite a substantial theoretical subject.
There is both an Honours and Ordinary level within the subject. Students’ can opt to take the written exam at Higher or Ordinary level, however the Coursework Journal is at a general level and is corrected as such.
There is also a link with some other subjects, namely Biology, Business Studies and even Building Construction – again, this cross-curricular advantage is helpful when choosing subjects.
Data Sources: The information on these pages has been compiled from a variety of sources including the NCCA, Newbridge College / Brian Howard, Dept. of Education & Skills, and student interviews. Information in the 'People who took this subject' section reflects the views of those people interviewed on this website and is offered as informal and potentially useful information only.
While CareersPortal.ie attempts to keep this information as up to date and accurate as possible, we do not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of this information or decisions made on the basis of this information. Students should always discuss subject options with parents / guardians / guidance counsellors..
Subjects I took in my Leaving Cert were ~ Irish, English, Math, Accountancy, Biology, Art and Home Economics
When I read this question it really made me think about the subjects I took and how they have influenced my career today.
Irish ~ assisted me in learning German, the irony is that I can speak fluent German and hardly any Irish. English ~ I use everyday in letters, e-mail etc, Math ~ I use simple math everyday. Accountancy ~ I use this everyday and also in conjunction with computers. Biology ~ assists in my better understanding of Food Safety etc. Art ~ as much as I loved it I haven’t found a practical use for it in work. Home Economics ~ it’s theory I use everyday but not the cooking and baking.
However, I do believe that nothing you learn is wasted, as it is either a stepping-stone to greater understanding, or of direct use.
As well as the standard leaving certificate subjects I chose History, Business, Home Economics and German. I have always had an interest in history and this is rearing its head once again now that I am in Powerscourt.
The Business Subjects are very important too as they were a vital foundation subject for my college degree. I have a strong aptitude for finance and hope to go on to complete the ACCA exams one day.
I also studied German from the age of 12 through to degree level. Although I am not fluent I have a reasonably good understanding of the language and feel that having an extra language is always beneficial (i.e. in a previous job we had a number of German tour buses visiting the hotel and I often had to speak to the guests in their own language).
Maths, English, French, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Home Economics. All of them influenced my career as I need all of them eg. without maths I couldn't deal with the financial part of the job.
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.
I took Irish, English, Maths, French, Biology, Accounting and Home Economics. I feel Honours Maths and Accounting have stood to me as I am very good with numbers and this helps in a retail environment. Honours English has helped me to articulate myself with clarity.
I took Art, Spanish, Business Studies & Home Economics.
I would say that they really didn't influence my career path, however, I did learn from my extra curricular activities that I liked working in groups and I could see how hard work paid off and was very fulfilling.
I would say that I would have liked more guidance and should have asked for more direction from people who could have pointed out my strengths to me earlier...
For my Leaving Certificate I did English, Irish, Maths, French, Geography, Home Economics, Economics and Physics. In hindsight I would have done nothing differently, as there are no really ideal subjects for a career in An Garda Síochána.
For my Leaving Certificate I chose Biology as my Science subject. This along with Home Economics allowed me to get a place on a Nurse training programme.
After completing my Junior Certificate I tried to choose a range of subjects in order to maintain options for Leaving Cert/College, and so studied Physics, Accountancy and Home Economics. I believed maintaining at least 1 science subject was important as it can be a requisite for many college courses.
Physics was also then key in my choice of Engineering at third level.
Accountancy and Home Economics were subjects I enjoyed and performed quite well at but could not see myself developing a career in.
Physics was a good basis for continuing on to study Electronic Engineering in college. Although having studied any science subject at Leaving Certificate level is required for entry to engineering I believe that Physics was the most relevant for my course.
I studied the required subjects of Maths, English and Irish, and then opted for Accountancy, Home Economics, French and Biology. I tried to choose subjects that I found interesting and would enjoy.
I chose French because I loved the language. After my Leaving Cert I then went on to study the Business Studies with French course in UL. This course had obvious career implications. I majored in Risk Management and Insurance and stayed on in the Insurance industry upon graduating by accepting a job with New Ireland Assurance.
I suppose the most important thing to remember is that although subject / course choices can influence your career direction; they are not the be all and end all.
There are so many avenues that students can go down after they leave school / college, the qualification is a starting point to get your first job and then the world is your oyster!
