Construction with Calum

Well, I’m a student in County Donegal and today I sat my Construction Studies Higher Level exam. I’m really happy to have it finished.

Overall, I thought the paper was very good. There was a great balance of questions and loads of sketching and diagrams, which made it way more engaging than just long written answers.

I did Question 2, which was about designing a house so a person with mobility issues can live in it independently — I thought it was a really fair and clear question. Question 5 was on U-values and I was well prepared for it as it comes up regularly.

 I also chose Question 6, which involved lots of sketches and was about designing a low environmental impact house with nature integrated around it — that was one of my favourites.

For Question 9 I wrote about solutions to prevent thermal bridges in certain areas. And Question 10 was on the building fabric of an older house that needs to be retrofitted to achieve Passive House standard. That one is nearly guaranteed every year so I was ready for it.

The drawings section was manageable and the whole paper felt practical and fair. It really rewarded students who could sketch well and apply their knowledge.

A big thank you to my Construction teacher, Mr Thomas Boyle, for all the help and guidance throughout the year.

Best of luck to everyone with their remaining exams!