Correcting Junior & Leaving Cert Exams

spurious

sitstill wrote: »

Just marked my last paper woo hoo that was hell!

It's kind of like childbirth though, when those forms come in again in November you think crazy thoughts like 'ah sure it wasn't THAT bad'.
Beware.:)

sitstill

But more importantly.....now that we're nearly finished, does anyone know when we get paid? I think it's September, but does anyone know the date?

ateam

sitstill wrote: »

But more importantly.....now that we're nearly finished, does anyone know when we get paid? I think it's September, but does anyone know the date?

Yeh I really hope it's quick. Will you do it next year no?

sitstill

ateam wrote: »

Yeh I really hope it's quick. Will you do it next year no?

No I definitely won't, although I would like to do it in my other subject...Maybe after I retire! :P

freire

Only silver lining is it was a terrible July weather wise, so didn't miss out there.

rainbowtrout

sitstill wrote: »

But more importantly.....now that we're nearly finished, does anyone know when we get paid? I think it's September, but does anyone know the date?

it's usually about 6 weeks after you finish marking, so sometime in the middle of september, i don't think there's a set date.

i'm finished too, this year was tough, never correcting higher level again, if i do it next year i'm going back to ordinary level.

rainbowtrout

cuddlesk wrote: »

i'm really worried now cos in some classes e.g english we all got answers to learn off and some came up. are u talking bout the jc here o the lc

well it applies to LC and JC, I wouldn't worry about it too much, when you are correcting you will come across identical answers and it's quite obvious a class has learned off notes given by the teacher etc. copying does come into it when you see an answer maybe that's not quite right and the next script has an identical incorrect answer, that's when the warning light should come on.

sitstill

Don't worry so much. Many teachers especially English and History give essays to students to learn off. Examiners can tell the difference between a student who has cheated by copying their neighbour and a student who was reporduced an essay given to them by their teacher.

partmak

Hi, does anyone know when the rest of the pay for correcting the Junior Cert exams will be paid? I made a stupid msiatke when filling out the claim form, I forgot to add the travelling expenses for the conferene in the front page in which it says 'car, no.of kms' but filled in the second page. will they mind it and add it? I know I was stupid but only realised after sending it! May I mail them!
Advice needed!:(

rainbowtrout

partmak wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know when the rest of the pay for correcting the Junior Cert exams will be paid? I made a stupid msiatke when filling out the claim form, I forgot to add the travelling expenses for the conferene in the front page in which it says 'car, no.of kms' but filled in the second page. will they mind it and add it? I know I was stupid but only realised after sending it! May I mail them!
Advice needed!:(

well if it's with your advising examiner s/he might fill it in for you, if it's with the SEC i suppose it's worth giving them a ring, they won't fill it in automatically though, they're not going to give out money just for the craic. and would probably just think you travelled with someone else - so no need to claim for expenses!

as said above, balance paid mid september assuming you have your clain for in in the next few days. the longer you leave it the longer you wait.

partmak

Thanks! I phoned my advising examiner and he changed it for me!

sitstill

partmak wrote: »

Thanks! I phoned my advising examiner and he changed it for me!

I made the same mistake and my advising examiner fixed mine too - thankfully! Can't wait till we get paid now.

spurious

I am ashamed to say I forgot to sign a claim form I sent recently to the SEC. Absolute morto.

Nead21

oh god that was hell.....i think im stilll recovering from.
+1 on never correcting higher level again!

partmak

I got paid 2, 184 euro for 260 papers + 500 initailly today! how much u guys were paid, just to see if I got it right! I corrected J. cert Science papers:)

sitstill

I got paid today too, but im sorta p*ss*d off. Why do they tax you on your expenses.... I mean I already paid tax on my petrol so why do they tax me again?!

rainbowtrout

partmak wrote: »

I got paid 2, 184 euro for 260 papers + 500 initailly today! how much u guys were paid, just to see if I got it right! I corrected J. cert Science papers:)

impossible to say if it is correct, which i assume it is. everyone has a different number of papers, has different mileage expenses, and each exam has a different rate

sitstill wrote: »

I got paid today too, but im sorta p*ss*d off. Why do they tax you on your expenses.... I mean I already paid tax on my petrol so why do they tax me again?!

you don't get taxed on your expenses, but you get taxed on everything else. remember you're probably paying the higher rate of tax on the whole lot if your salary puts you into the higher tax band at all. so 42% of your taxable earnings is gone back to the revenue

expenses include mileage, overnights/long days, miscellaneous expenses, everything else is taxed (unfortunately). if it makes you feel any better i've had over €2000 taken in tax for the corrections.

Singing Sums

so the money is now trickling it's way to all us correctors? I can't wait!

freire

rainbowtrout wrote: »

you don't get taxed on your expenses, but you get taxed on everything else. remember you're probably paying the higher rate of tax on the whole lot if your salary puts you into the higher tax band at all. so 42% of your taxable earnings is gone back to the revenue

expenses include mileage, overnights/long days, miscellaneous expenses, everything else is taxed (unfortunately). if it makes you feel any better i've had over €2000 taken in tax for the corrections.

I too just got paid and am not impressed - as far as I can work out I was taxed on the whole amount, including expenses (overnights and mileage) - surely this is not correct? And I was taxed at 42% despite earning approx. 23 cent in the year from January as I was doing my dip.

I know I'll get this sorted out but what is the deal with taxing the mileage etc? I thought this was non-taxable...

rainbowtrout

freire wrote: »

I too just got paid and am not impressed - as far as I can work out I was taxed on the whole amount, including expenses (overnights and mileage) - surely this is not correct? And I was taxed at 42% despite earning approx. 23 cent in the year from January as I was doing my dip.

I know I'll get this sorted out but what is the deal with taxing the mileage etc? I thought this was non-taxable...

If you don't have any of your tax credits allocated to the SEC as one of your employers you are going to be taxed at the higher rate. I guess it doesn't apply to most correctors as the majority are teachers and would be in the higher tax bracket anyway. There's probably a way of claiming it back through the Revenue but that would have nothing to do with the SEC.

And you are not taxed on your expenses. Try getting the total you were paid including the advance you got. Take away your expenses and get 42% of it, it won't be exact because PRSI has to come out of it, but it should be fairly close.

Remember because you got an advance and essentially no tax was paid on it, the tax on the total amount less expenses has to come out of what remains which is why it appears to be so much.

Teacherman

I have never corrected despite 12 years of teaching. Why-because out of 10 people you discuss it with -9 will say they will never do it again. Is not just the loneliness of correcting piles of paper its the constant interference by your inspector who I hear is not afraid to ring you late on an evening and the constant re-jigging of marking schemes.

Do TEFL instead or prostitute yourself. Anything but correct. You have been warned!:eek:

spurious

Correcting is invaluable from a professional point of view, though sadly not in financial terms.

Horrendous and underpaid as it is, I would still recommend every teacher of an exam subject do it at least once.

sitstill

spurious wrote: »

Correcting is invaluable from a professional point of view, though sadly not in financial terms.

Horrendous and underpaid as it is, I would still recommend every teacher of an exam subject do it at least once.

Agree 100 %

dfdaly1701

Hi, I know those of you who corrected scripts this summer are still recovering but I'm a PGDE student in UCC and I've a couple of questions regarding the marking of exams.

I'm teaching JC Maths and Science as part of my teaching practice but I'd be willing to correct leaving certificate maths and biology too. What would you recommend putting on my application?

Would leaving cert maths be very difficult for someone with no experience of teaching it? If i went for the easier options and other, more qualified, applicants were given preference to correct the exam papers would i be left with nothing?

Do they try to give you lots of one subject at one level to correct of will; you get for exampls 100 scripts of one subject and 100 of another.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Also, this may sound ridiculous, but is it any hassle for me to correct from Waterford during the summer?

Singing Sums

just a quick reply to some of your questions:

You should probably put everything you are willing to correct on the form (I think you can get the forms on examinations.ie, but not sure if they're up yet), but you will probably be asked to correct Junior Cert foundation or ordinary level as it's your first time.

As far as I know you'll just be asked to correct one subject at one level.

You attend a one or two day conference in Athlone where you are told how to correct the paper and then you go back home (wherever that is) to correct the exams. When you're finished you post the scripts back.

Hope that helps a bit.

implausible

Because it's your first time, you're unlikely to get LC anything, they'll probably offer you JC papers at ordinary or higher level. You can only mark one subject as the time frames will overlap. Anyway, marking few hundred of one subject is hard enough!!

Doesn't matter where you correct from, they'll ask for the address where you'll be marking from.

zulfikarMD

Hi all, can anyone tell me who can work apply for corrections? Is it mandatory to be a Teacher working/worked in Ireland? Can any NON-EU experienced teacher apply for this? Any guidance appreciated.

implausible

Get the form and chance your arm! I know of H.Dips, final year arts students, primary school teachers and retired teachers who have marked. I think i met an australian at a marking conference before. Ring the State Exams Commission if you need to know more. They often initially say 'no' first and then, closer to the time, look for you.

zulfikarMD

Thanks deemark for your reply. Appreciate it.

Nead21

dfdaly1701 wrote: »

I'm teaching JC Maths and Science as part of my teaching practice but I'd be willing to correct leaving certificate maths and biology too. What would you recommend putting on my application?

i wouldnt correct any papers that i didnt have experience teaching in, regardless of what you're qualified to teach.
you need some knowledge of the curriculum and the way students answer questions when correcting, so id stick to what i know!