Welcome for Leaving Certificate Irish results
August 16, 2012
Not only was there an increase in the numbers sitting Higher level Irish in this year’s Leaving Certificate but there was also an increase in the number of A grades awarded to students.
56,000 students will receive their Leaving Certificate results across the country today and there was a substantial 35% increase in the number of students who undertook the maths paper at higher level.
The Department of Education and Skills also announced that there was an 11% increase in the number of students taking the higher level Irish paper.Speaking today Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn TD said that changes to the oral Irish examination were the main factor in the higher demand for the higher level paper.
According to statistics issued by the State Examinations Commission today, 42,965 students sat an Irish language paper in this year’s exams. Of them 15,937 took the higher level paper with 7.3% of those candidates receiving A1 grades and 11.3% receiving B1 grades.
17.4% of students received an A grade at higher level this year in comparison to 13.9% who received top marks last year.
22,875 students took the paper at ordinary level and 74.2% of these candidates achieved A, B or C grades. Just over 4,000 students took sat the exam at foundation level.
The Minister said that there had been a move away from an emphasis on grammar and increased emphasis on spoken Irish in the new Leaving Certificate examination.
The format for the new oral Irish examination is a joint exam for those sitting higher and ordinary level exams which is worth 40% of the overall mark.
The oral examination itself is made up of four sections and students are awarded marks for the introduction; poetry recitation; an explanation of a series of pictures and conversation with the examiner.
However some groups have expressed concern that the subject is being overly simplified at Leaving Certificate level in a manner which is unchallenging for students attending Irish medium schools in Gaeltacht regions and in Gaelscoileanna.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Droichead Feirste
August 16, 2012
The ups and downs of results 2012
August 16, 2012
One interesting development to emerge from the figures is the significant decline this year in the number of grind school candidates taking the Leaving Cert. According to this year’s results, biology is the second hardest subject in which to get an honour at higher level.
IT HAS been a good year for higher level maths and Irish but the jury is still out on project maths and science. Certainly, the students who decided to take a chance at higher level maths this year will be delighted. The failure rate is down, despite the extra candidates and anyone who managed a D3 or higher has an extra 25 CAO points to bring to the table. Offers come out on Monday and points are on the up.
One interesting development to emerge from the figures today is the decline in the number of external candidates sitting the exams. Students who attend so-called grind schools are listed as external candidates, as are students who opt to sit the exams as individuals. There were 4,361 external candidates for the Leaving Certificate 2009.
That number dropped to 2,851 this year. A sign of the economic times for parents perhaps?
HAPPY DAYS FOR IRISH
After seeing an alarming decline in the numbers taking higher level Irish over the past few years, 2012 was a very good year. An increase of almost 1,600 students taking the subject at higher level (that’s up by 11 per cent on last year) has reversed the trend completely. Fewer students opted for ordinary and foundation level this year. The change in attitude can be linked to the decision six years ago to double the marks for oral work for students who started secondary school in 2006. The oral Irish exam is now worth 40 per cent of the total mark.
Irish is normally a subject in which students do well. This year is no exception with 17 per cent of higher level students managing an A grade and more than 87 per cent achieving an honour.
RISK PAYS OFF FOR HIGHER LEVEL MATHS STUDENTS
There were plenty of higher level maths students breathing a sigh of relief around the country this morning. There has been an increase of 35 per cent in the numbers taking higher level maths. Many of these students would have opted for the ordinary level paper had it not been for the temptation of 25 extra bonus CAO points for any grade above a D3 in the subject. For them, it was a calculated risk that paid off. Of the 11,131 students that sat the paper, 10,875 passed and the failure rate actually dropped this year. At higher level, almost 10 per cent of students got an A while more than 83 per cent managed the honour. Even if they didn’t get a C, anyone who passed now has those precious bonus points under the belt.
Overall, maths students did pretty well. The failure rate at all three levels is down. Applied maths students saw a huge A rate in their subject with almost 28 per cent of higher level students getting the top grade.
HOW’S PROJECT MATHS LOOKING?
It’s still too early to deliver any substantial verdict on Project Maths, although all students were examined on elements of the new syllabus this year. Supporters of the programme will perhaps be disappointed to see that results from the pilot schools saw a slightly lower honours rate from higher level Project Maths students in comparison to students sitting the mainstream exam. Almost 79 per cent of higher level Project Maths students got an honour in comparison to the 83 per cent of mainstream higher level maths students who managed the same grade.
Ordinary level Project Maths students did better than their mainstream counterparts with almost 76 per cent achieving an A, B or C grade. Just 66 per cent of mainstream ordinary level students matched those grades.
SCIENCE STILL A PROBLEM
Although there has been a boom in demand for science places at third level, it will be another year or two before we see any real effect in the senior cycle. For now, biology remains, by far the most popular science subject with 22,740 sitting the exam in June. Chemistry and agricultural science saw a reasonable increase in interest, but physics and physics and chemistry were slightly down.
High failure rates are a constant problem for those advocating science. The highest failure rates at higher level in this year’s exam all belong to the sciences. Physics and chemistry topped the table with 11 per cent of students failing. Chemistry is next at 9 per cent, agricultural science, biology and physics all have failure rates of between 7 and 9 per cent.
Agricultural science has one of the lower honours rates with just under 66 per cent of students getting an honour at higher level. The other sciences fare somewhat better with honours rates of more than 70 per cent. Physics students do best with almost three quarters of students managing an A, B or C grade.
TALKING IN TONGUES
French is still the dominant language but it is declining slightly year on year. Some 13,720 students opted for it this year. German remains steady at just over 4,300 higher level candidates and just over 2,500 students sat the higher level Spanish paper in June.
Spanish students fared best of the three with an excellent honours rate of over 82 per cent. 15 per cent of students got an A. 77 per cent of higher level German students got an A, B or C grade. Their A rate was similar to that of Spanish students at just over 15 per cent.
French was slightly tougher with a 75 per cent honours rate at higher level and a little under 14 per cent of students managing a higher level A.
Interestingly, Polish is very much on the up. The numbers taking the exam have increased from 541 in 2010 to 707 in 2012. Russian students numbered 251. At least some of these also sat the higher level Irish exam. A timetabling issue meant that such students had to sit biology, Irish and Russian papers all in one day. It probably paid off, however, as three quarters of the students who sat the exam managed an A.
ARTISTIC SOULS
Music was popular this year, up by more than 200 students at higher level to 5,644.
This may or may not be something to do with the spectacular results higher level students are getting in the subject. It has one of the highest honours rates – almost 95 per cent of students got an A, B or C grade this year. The A grades are thinner on the ground but almost 15 per cent of students still managed the A in the higher level paper.
Art, on the other hand, is slightly down. It lost more than 300 students at higher level this year. Numbers are now under 8,000. It’s a tough subject to get an A in. Just 5 per cent of students were awarded an A at higher level this year. Its honours rate is reasonably good at almost 79 per cent
SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT THE “EASY” HONOURS ARE IN THE LEAVING CERT?
Biology, home economics and geography often fall foul of the “easy” tag at subject choice time while the likes of higher level Irish, maths and history are seen as subjects to be wary of at higher level.
Well according to this year’s results, biology is the second hardest subject in which to get an honour at higher level. Just 71 per cent of students managed an A,B or C grade in the subject this year. Just under three quarters of home economics students got an honour but the A rate in the subject is low at below 8 per cent. Geography, a hugely popular higher level subject (more than 20,000 students sat the paper in June), has an A rate of 8 per cent and an honours rate of 74 per cent.
Higher level Irish, on the other hand, saw 87 per cent of its higher level students get an honour this year. Maths also had a massive honours rate of 83 per cent at higher level, while history, engineering, accounting and applied maths all had A,B,C rates of over 77 per cent.
http://www.irishtimes.com/
Leaving Cert Results: Record numbers get bonus in maths
August 16, 2012
THREE pupils celebrate nine A1s as class of 2012 celebrate the best Leaving Certificate maths results on record — putting students on track for careers in the jobs-rich areas of science and technology
Almost 56,000 candidates receive their Leaving Cert results today — among them three top-scoring candidates who achieved nine A1s each at higher level. More than 11,000 candidates took higher-level maths — an increase of 35pc from 2011 — and of these, a massive 97.7pc achieved grade D or higher, entitling them to 25 bonus CAO points.
It means that as many as one-in-four school leavers who applied to the CAO this year are bringing an extra 25 points each into the calculations when the first round of CAO college offers goes out next Monday.
However, the maths surge will contribute to higher CAO cut-off points in areas such as science and technology.
Points for such courses were expected to rise anyway, driven by the increase in demand from students heeding the advice of Government and employers that these will be the areas providing jobs in the future.
But there will be a downside for students who took ordinary-level maths.
They may now find themselves competing for places on certain courses — where higher-level maths is not an entry requirement — with students who gained the 25-point bonus.
Student performance in some key science subjects was also up this year.
It is not only maths higher-level students who have special cause to celebrate today.
In another significant feature of the results, the numbers taking higher-level Irish rose by 11pc compared with 2011.
This is linked to the change in the marking system, with 40pc of marks now available for the oral part of the exam, a move introduced to encourage better take-up at this level.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn led the congratulations to the class of 2012 and he, along with school managers principals, teachers and parents’ representatives encouraged students to consider all their options and take advantage of the supports available in planning their next step.
The spectacular increase in achievement in higher-level maths will be the big talking point of Leaving Certificate 2012.
A record 22pc of maths candidates opted for higher level, up from 16pc last year. The previous high was about 19pc in 1997. However, while the proportion of A grades was down, the number of Bs was up.
Employers, who clamoured for years for the introduction of bonus points as an incentive to students to study a key subject for the new economy, welcomed the results but warned there was no room for complacency
They pointed to other areas that now had to be tackled, including achieving a greater take-up in science subjects as well as foreign languages.
Paul Sweetman of IBEC high technology division, ICT Ireland, said the increase in students taking higher-level maths, coupled with the growth in demand for science and technology courses, sent a strong signal to the global technology community that Ireland would remain a key location for growth and investment.
Tony Donohoe, IBEC head of education policy, said the increase vindicated the decision of the higher-education institutions to award bonus points. But he warned that bonus points were not a panacea for improving standards and the single most important element in improving the level of maths attainment in schools was the quality of teaching.
“This issue has become even more critical with the introduction of the new Project Maths curriculum, which requires a deeper understanding of the application of mathematical concepts by both teachers and students alike,” he said .
www.independent.ie/
Dramatic fall in number failing maths in Leaving Certificate
August 16, 2012
Failure rate falls 20% as record numbers take higher paper
Education Editor IN A reversal of recent trends, the number failing maths in the Leaving Certificate has fallen dramatically, while record numbers opted to take the subject at higher level.
While the number failing maths this year is still relatively high at close to 4,000, this is down by 20 per cent on recent years.
Last night, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn welcomed the record number of students who took higher level maths in the exam – 22 per per cent of all maths students took the higher paper, compared to 16 per cent last year. Remarkably, only 256 students of the 11,000-plus who took higher maths failed the paper.
This year, students were examined for the first time on some elements of the new Project Maths course, which has been criticised over “dumbing down’’ by some teachers.
Last night, some critics alleged examiners were “pressurised’’ to deliver better grades in maths. But the State Exams Commission strongly rejected these claims, issuing a lengthy statement detailing the marking process.
In the Dáil last month, Fine Gael TD Mary Mitchell O’Connor said she had “been informed by a corrector of the Leaving Certificate honours mathematics paper that in one of the 75-mark questions … the marking system has been changed drastically because the results are so dismal’’.
Exam results published this morning also show a marked increase in the numbers taking Irish at higher level. The other striking feature is the fall-off in the number of exam candidates from grind schools, down over 20 per cent.
The sharp increase in numbers taking higher level maths comes after colleges agreed to Mr Quinn’s request to offer bonus CAO points for those taking the paper. This year, the 10,875 students with a grade D3 or better in higher level maths will secure a bonus 25 CAO points. This means they will enjoy a considerable advantage over the 35,000 students who took the ordinary level paper.
The CAO will publish its first round of college offers next Monday. Over 32,000 places are available in Level 8 or higher degree courses.
It is expected the bonus points system will lead to a significant increase in points, especially for highdemand courses in such areas as science, technology and agriculture.
Career experts say the scattergun impact of the bonus points system could also see increased points even for areas such as arts and business.
The 11 per cent increase in the number taking higher level Irish is being linked to the new marking scheme that awards 40 per cent to the oral exam. Overall, the number taking higher level Irish increased by almost 5 per cent to 37 per cent.
Other main features of the results include:
Three students secured nine A1 grades, while 10 gained eight A1s. In all, 150 students scored a “perfect’’ Leaving with six A1s or better;
Failure rates remained high in several ordinary level subjects, including chemistry (16.6 per cent), biology (13.5 per cent) and physics (10.6 per cent);
Failure rates were also high in several language subjects at ordinary level, including Italian (10.3 per cent), French (6.9 per cent) and Spanish (7.2 per cent);
Among the main subjects, music is the “easiest’’ honour at higher level. Over 95 per cent of students secured an A, B or C;
Biology and business are the “hardest” honours, with an A, B or C rate of 71 per cent.
Peter O’Neill, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, which represents more than 600 US companies in Ireland, praised the bonus points system.
“Students who traditionally would have studied ordinary level maths seeking an ‘A’ grade have pushed themselves into the higher level stream and achieved honours at the higher level. This is a welcome development,” he said.
http://www.irishtimes.com/
An Ghaeilge does Electric Picnic 2012
August 13, 2012
It happens every year, the epicentre of music and innovation, a festival for every age – none other than ‘Electric Picnic’.
Founded in 2004, the festival has received much international acclaim, covering the same musical spectrum as Bestival, Glastonbury and Exit but it’s the little but brilliant things that make Electric Picnic stand out from the rest.
The festival provides ticketholders with a whirlwind of events every year including a circus, comedy, drama, raves in the woods, pottery workshops and meditation tents – yes they have it all covered, whether you want to chill in the Body and Soul section or rock out at The Salty Dog Stage.
In recent years the Irish language has played a significant part in the festival. Based in the Mindfield area, you will find an array of performances through Irish – music, drama, film, poetry, comedy and even rap and this year will be no different.
This year’s organisers Rossa Ó Snodaigh and Dónal Ó Donnabháin have already put together an exciting line-up for Irish Language events at the Spoken Word tent including:
- GAA Karoke: Aonghus Ó hEochaidh will be doing a live commentary on the GAA semi-final.
- Gaelscéal Debate
- Puppet Show
- Lúibíní and Sean-nós singing with Mairéad Ní Fhlatharta, Nell Ní Chróinín and more.
- Live music with Tara Ní Mhaonaigh & Seanán Ó Braonáin, Macara Ó Conghaile, Rónán Ó Snodaigh, Peadar Ó Goill, Eoin Ó Conghaile and The Dirty Nines.
- Film: Two films by Tomás Ó Súilleabháin will be screened and there will be a live dubbing in Irish of a B-movie.
- Drama with Fíbín, Manchán Mangan and Aisteorií Bulfin.
- Poetry with Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, Caoimhín Mac Giolla Cathain is Dairena Ní Chinnéide, Sorcha Fox, Seán Rua Ó Súilleabháin, Louis De Paor & Rónán Browne
- Cabaret Craiceáilte with Rónán Mac Aodh Bhuí
- Sexy Sean-nós: A sean-nós dancing workshop with a twist.
So, if you’re coming to the Picnic this year, make sure to call into the Mindfield for lots if craic as Gaeilge!
Múinteoir Gaelscoile – Scoil na gCeithre Máistrí
August 13, 2012
Múinteoir Gaelscoile – Gaelscoil na bhFilí
August 13, 2012
Múinteoir Gaelscoile – Gaelscoil Thaobh na Coille
August 13, 2012
Rúnaí Scoile – Gaelscoil na Mí
August 13, 2012
