This year, a record 66,911 students sat the Leaving Certificate — the highest number in Irish history. Thousands more sat the Junior Cert. And yet, as the papers were handed out across exam halls nationwide, the conversation wasn't about achievement. It was about anxiety. That tells you everything about why Equanimity Maths exists.
The summer of 2026 — what the Leaving Cert told us
Within hours of the Leaving Certificate Higher Level Maths Paper 1 being sat this June, the reaction online was immediate and visceral. Parents described watching their children come home in shock. One mother told RTÉ News: the paper left her daughter so thrown that "the shock was so profound." A petition calling for an independent review of the paper gathered thousands of signatures within days. Students described it as "undoable" and "brutal."
This is not a new story. Almost every year, something like this happens with the Higher Level Maths paper. And almost every year, the same conversation follows — about whether the paper was fair, about the SEC's defence, about whether students will be disadvantaged. It is a cycle that repeats because it is rooted in something deeper than paper difficulty. It is rooted in the relationship Irish students have with Maths itself.
The Class of 2026 began first year wearing masks. Their schools closed. They missed the end of 6th class, and were well into 2nd year before they saw their teachers' and classmates' faces in class. The State Examinations Commission has acknowledged that "the education system is still settling post-pandemic." These are students who have navigated more disruption than any generation before them — and they sat their most important exams this summer in the shadow of all of that.
The Ordinary Level Maths Paper 2 told a different story. Teachers described it as "a fair, modern and thoughtfully designed paper that rewarded understanding over memorisation." That phrase — rewarded understanding over memorisation — stopped me when I read it. Because that is precisely what is missing from so much Maths tuition in Ireland today.
A Maths teacher reflecting on the 2026 Ordinary Level paper put it simply: students who stayed calm and trusted their understanding were rewarded. Those who panicked were not.
Stayed calm. Trusted their understanding. That is not a description of exam technique. That is a description of a mindset. And it is a mindset that can be taught, developed and strengthened — but only if someone takes the time to build it.
The Junior Cert — a different pressure, the same anxiety
The Junior Cert 2026 Maths papers were received more warmly. Teachers noted that the Higher Level paper "opened pleasantly with approachable probability and statistics questions, helping to settle students' nerves." The Ordinary Level paper "engaged students with a series of routine and well-structured questions at the beginning, helping to ease nerves before progressing into more applied topics."
Notice what both of those descriptions have in common — the nerve settling, the easing of anxiety. The exam designers know that Maths anxiety is real. They design the opening of papers specifically to address it. And yet, for too many students, by the time they sit in that exam hall, the anxiety has already taken hold. The groundwork was never laid. The calm was never built.
As one tutor put it: "Maths is cumulative. Weak fractions turn into weak algebra which turns into 'I hate Maths' which turns into panic in June." That progression — from a small gap in knowledge to full-scale panic — is one I have watched play out over and over in five years of tutoring. It is preventable. And it starts early.
Leaving Cert Maths consistently causes more stress than almost any other subject. It is compulsory, cumulative, and carries bonus points at Higher Level — meaning students feel pressure to stay at a level they may be struggling with for CAO reasons alone. For many, the anxiety around the subject is more debilitating than any gap in knowledge. Understanding and calm are the antidote. Both can be taught.
My story — and why it matters
My relationship with Maths has always been one of genuine passion — a subject I found myself drawn to more and more as I developed a deeper understanding of it. That journey of continuous improvement, of learning how to not just solve problems but truly teach them, is what eventually led me to DCU where I trained as a Maths and PE teacher.
What I discovered through that training — and through over five years of tutoring students across every year group and ability level — is that knowing Maths and knowing how to teach Maths are two completely different skills. The second is far harder and far more important. I have spent those years refining my approach, learning what actually works for students, and building a method that prioritises understanding over memorisation and calm over pressure. My first year of full time secondary school teaching added another layer entirely — the reality of the classroom, the scale of the challenge, and the gaps that large class sizes inevitably leave behind.
What I have learned — from teaching, tutoring and years of developing my craft — is that the gap between a student who "gets" Maths and one who doesn't is rarely about intelligence. It is almost always about confidence, anxiety and the approach they have been given. Change the approach and you change everything.
"Education is a pathway to liberation. My job isn't just to help students pass an exam — it's to change the way they see themselves as learners."
What Equanimity Maths is built to do
Equanimity — mental calmness and composure, especially in difficult situations. That is not just a name. It is the entire philosophy. Every decision about how Equanimity Maths operates flows from that word.
Small groups of five students — because in a class of thirty, anxiety hides in the back row and gaps go unfound. Every student in an Equanimity Maths class is seen, heard and helped. Understanding before technique — because a student who understands why a method works can adapt when the paper throws something unexpected. A student who has memorised the steps cannot. Calm before pressure — because the exam hall rewards the student who can think clearly under pressure, not the one who has been drilled into a state of panic.
We cover the full Irish curriculum — Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate, from 2nd Year through to 6th Year. Small group classes are Higher Level only, with Ordinary Level students catered for through 2-to-1 sessions. Summer sessions are available now. September classes are forming. And The Vault — our premium resource library of notes, recordings and past papers — opens this September for any student who wants to study smarter, at any time.
But beyond the classes, beyond the resources, the ambition is bigger than that. I want to change how Irish students experience Maths. I want a student who arrives in 2nd Year convinced that Maths is not for them to leave 6th Year knowing that it is. Not because they memorised enough to pass — but because they genuinely understood, and that understanding gave them confidence that carries into everything else they do.
That is what education should do. That is what Equanimity Maths is here to do.
Classes commence September 2026. Places are limited to 5 students per group. Summer 1-to-1 sessions are available now at €50/hr.