Papers marked harshly

Evangelion

I know this happens every year, there's always sone or two subject that have a hard line taken on marking and generally requires large scale rechecks. I know for me it was history a few years ago, if i had relised it would have put me up about 20 points (not that it mattered).

Did anyone have experince with this this year? positive they did well in an exam, but had a much poorer result that expected? I've seen some results of people I know that surprised me.

Corruptedmorals

Yes history! No-one in my school got the A. I was so sure I'd have gotten it, and got a B3. Everyone was moaning about how bad the paper was for the topics of Bismarck and eh stuff like that, but appear to have gotten A's there..maybe it was marked slightly easier if you did those topics? I loved the paper, and in my school we did the standard topics of Rising-First Dáil etc, Hitler blah blah blah and American history..think they were marked harder.

Appealing that, but I do need to appeal subjects anyway..

fionated7

im gonna appeal irish and english!!
i got a higher grade in my mocks in both subjects and wrote little or nothing for either of them!! as really happy after both exams in june jus to completely shocked yesterday... i didnt fail them or anything but i do feel like i was robbed

a good few people in my year are gettin their english re-checked!!

Corruptedmorals

English was marked pretty easy I thought. A1 percent must have shot up..I got one..very surprising altogether. I'm appealing Irish (I did better than a B2), French (it COULD go up), Biology C1 :mad: :mad:, History that B3, how frustrating, Geography, it might go to the A1. I do need to go up by 5 points (and possibly slightly more..) so I'm justified in appealing everything I can I think..

JC 2K3

I got a B1 in History and was expecting a B3/C1.

Similarly, I got an A2 in English and expected a B3.

I thought the papers must have been marked fairly easily...

*belle*

ya the english was a bit all over the place.....i know ppl who are getting it checked.

cocoa

Hmm, I'm kind of unsure and don't want to commit to too much until I view my scripts but I reckon/hope that the marking in english and Chemistry was a bit harsh/bad. I expected an A1 in both, maybe an A2 in english and I got an A2 in chem and a B1 in English. I was kind of annoyed straightaway by this but my results were still really excellent so I didn't care so much but then I found loads of my friends who should have gotten As in english got Cs so...

Chemistry is really just me hoping...

I'll say it again though, we'll know when we view the scripts...

estebancambias

I got a c2 in history, despite the fact I could only do 2 questions on the paper(document and Nazi's) I really think they need a more full proof way of marking the LC. Some correctors can be more leniant than others, which is wrong.

ninebeanrows

I got a B2 in English in the mocks and a D2 in the real thing!

Now i didn't think i had done amazingly but a D2, i was a whisker away from failing my Leaving Cert:eek:

Definately appealing it, really knocked down my points.

Otherwise i was abit disappointed with Geography, B2, got B1 Mocks, gonna take a look at it.

Naikon

Weathercheck wrote:

Otherwise i was abit disappointed with Geography, B2, got B1 Mocks, gonna take a look at it.

Yeah, I got a B2 in the mocks but dropped to a C3 in the real deal:mad:

estebancambias

Geography was marked crazy. SRPS totally blow.

Corruptedmorals

I don't think so, I went from a C1 to A2 and I had to dig deep for info on mining from 4 years ago! Geography was marked fairly, in my school anyway. It IS such a rigid marking system though.

genericgoon

I think Geography seems like something a fair few got less than expected. Maybe worth looking at if you need the points.

whatshername!!

I was really dissappointed with english. I havent got below a B2 all year and got a B1 in the mocks but i only got a C1 and i thought the exam went really well. I know a load of people who have the same problem and we are all getting them rechecked.

estebancambias

I need 20 points from somewhere, badly.

Cateym

Two years ago my kid sister got a D2 in English. She was devastated as she had always been a high B student. Our 1st cousin also the same year was gutted by her result in English. Both got re-checks both stayed at their mark.

English is a very peculiar subject to mark. One examiner might give all his papers high B's while another marking the exact same set of papers might give them all low C's. It's the way the cookie crumbles.

I have a two cousins who teach English at secondary school and they told them at the time they stood very little chance of being up-graded unless it was a calculation error in totting up the marks.

Other subjects I'd reckon are easier to go up in when re-checked.

Selphie

I was expecting a C in History and got an A2. Similarly after English, I expected a low B and got an A1. Apart from that, the marking seemed pretty sound to me!

JC 2K3

I'd like to read the chief examiners report on English.

Leeby

Corruptedmorals wrote:

English was marked pretty easy I thought. A1 percent must have shot up..I got one..very surprising altogether. I'm appealing Irish (I did better than a B2), French (it COULD go up), Biology C1 :mad: :mad:, History that B3, how frustrating, Geography, it might go to the A1. I do need to go up by 5 points (and possibly slightly more..) so I'm justified in appealing everything I can I think..

Are you allowed to appeal everything? I thought there was a limit to the amount you could get rechecked to stop people from creating extra work by just sending everything, could also prove quite expensive if your marks don't change.

Evangelion

genericgoon wrote:

I think Geography seems like something a fair few got less than expected. Maybe worth looking at if you need the points.

This is exactly what i was expecting to hear. Geog is a easy B with no work hence my surprise.


You can appeal as many as you want as far as i know, but each one costs money, its refunded if your marks go up. Always view your scripts 1st preferably with a teacher, cos the exam borad wont admitt a mistake if they dont have to.

A good thing to bear in mind with the rechecks is you CAN'T go down marks, even if they ****ed up the 1st time

Extreme-LoopZ

I'm getting Irish appealed. I know I did better than a C2. Then again, maybe my oral went worse than I thought. I thought I did pretty good, but my examiner was really nice. Maye he was a sneaky bastard and acted all sweet but marked really hard....I've heard of that happening before.:mad:

lucernarian

I was told by my english teacher that around 35% of appeals of english results are successful. If they're marked as poorly as mock papers, I'm not suprised.

I got 15% higher than expected, so I will definetely not appeal:D

Mackleton

Evangelion Im not sure you're entirely correct there. As far as I know when you appeal a subject it is marked by an appeal supervisor who recorrects it with the same marking scheme, thus he/she can judge that marks were awarded too generously first time round and can lower your grade if they felt it unwarranted. Therefore it is just as likely to go down as well as up.

Thats why I would warn anyone who is appealing subjects to DEFINATELY view it first WITH your teacher who can judge whether the mark will drop or not in a recorrection.

I certainly wouldn't go sending subjects back willy nilly under the assumption that they will either stay the same or go up. If that was the case then everyone would send everything back just in case.

So consider carefully guys when sending papers back, especially if you are in need of points, and dont go looking to scrape extra points if you dont really need them. I know a girl who was 5 points short of Law in UCC last year and she appealed her english, she got a nasty shock when her initial B1 paper returned a B3!!

Dublinstiofán

Can happen alright, one things for sure though, if one particular paper was marked hard, History for example, all History papers were.

Each examiner is given the same answer script and follow the same criteria for marking.
Kinda like who wants to be a millioinaire in most cases.
Question and 4 possible answers. For maths its something like
1 right, full marks (10)
2 attempt marks (3)
3 Can follow what your saying but it's total bull**** (1) for keeping me entertained:D
4 wrong (0) your an idiot

They're all looking for certain things in questions and ya either got it in your answer or ya don't. No point in moaning, If ya feel hard done by get a re-check.

D. Coughlan

I felt very hard done by in Economics (C2), i was expecting a good B, as was a lot of other people in my class, yet the highest grade was a B2.

Geography seems to have been marked hard, a lot of people seem disappointed.

French was my only subject where i went down on my pre, i will have a look at it as I thought it was a very easy exam.

Is anybody going to look at all of their papers, i am thinking of, as i may be just 5 or 10 points off, or would it just be weird to view all my eight subjects

Haven't a Clue

Thought history went well with a C1, was expecting a D there. However, French was a bitch for me as I was expecting a C of some sort and only got a D1. I was also nearly sure I got a distinction in LCVP, but not one person in our school got this.

I'm going to have a look at Maths, French, LCVP, Business and English. Desperate measures, I know, but it's desperate times for me.

Mushy

JC 2K3 wrote:

I'd like to read the chief examiners report on English.

Theres nowhere where students get to see them is there? I'd like to have a look out of curiosity.

On the re-checking matter, I'm gonna get french re-checked. I know I did better than a D1. Its not that I need to get it done for points or anything, but just want to, cos I thought I at least got an honour in it. We shall see what happens though

Spank

I thought my Irish was marked soooooooooo easy, got a C3 HL, I was, and still am, completely sure that I had failed, never mind an honour!

Got a B1 in english, was kind of hopin for the A. Was happy with everything though, might view english just for 'closure', I wouldn't appeal it as I got my points, I hope.

Haven't a Clue

Mushy wrote:

Theres nowhere where students get to see them is there? I'd like to have a look out of curiosity.

Yeah, on examinations.ie. Won't be released until next year though.

the flananator

Corruptedmorals wrote:

Yes history! No-one in my school got the A. I was so sure I'd have gotten it, and got a B3. Everyone was moaning about how bad the paper was for the topics of Bismarck and eh stuff like that, but appear to have gotten A's there..maybe it was marked slightly easier if you did those topics? I loved the paper, and in my school we did the standard topics of Rising-First Dáil etc, Hitler blah blah blah and American history..think they were marked harder.

Appealing that, but I do need to appeal subjects anyway..

I would agree totally with that. I did the same topics as you, considered myself an A student...got a B2. The paper raped me though. No Treaty question? Come on!

Peyton Manning

Bad advice on this thread - you CAN be docked marks in the re-check if the examiner feels that marks were given too generously.

And I appealed my English last year and went up a grade, so there is hope. It is a poorly marked paper every year.

eZe^

I got an A2 in biology but tbh it was the subject I felt I answered the best, so unless I made some stupid mistakes Im going to get it rechecked...

Got a B3 in English too, and I completely avoided cliched answers so I might get that checked out too...

spurious

There isn't a Chief Examiner's Report to be published for this year's examination in English.

The last one for English was 2005 - this year's reports (out in 2008) will be for:
Home Economics , Applied Mathematics, Agricultural Economics, Classical Studies, Music, Geography and Hebrew Studies.

Selphie

spurious wrote:

There isn't a Chief Examiner's Report to be published for this year's examination in English.

The last one for English was 2005 - this year's reports (out in 2008) will be for:
Home Economics , Applied Mathematics, Agricultural Economics, Classical Studies, Music, Geography and Hebrew Studies.

Why not the rest? I didn't do a single one of those subjects.....

Squeeonline

Everyone here seems to have done really well. I dont know anyone personally who actually failed and there are some real retards in my school.

I got 515 myself which was a health overkill for the 315 I needed for biotech in galway.

I got A1 in Bio, A2 in chem, the rest (eng, ger, accounting, maths) are all B's. I was a bit dissapointed with the B1 in maths. I know its a good results but i was hoping for an A of some form. Suppose i really did screw up ppr 2. Ah well, life goes on!

Well done to everyone!

spurious

Selphie wrote:

Why not the rest? I didn't do a single one of those subjects.....

Because there are too many subjects to publish a Chief Examiner's Report for each subject each year. You can read reports for most other years and a wide variety of subjects on the SEC site http://www.examinations.ie

There is not a great deal of change year to year. Close reading of one can help you identify which options/questions have the lowest number of answerers and thus (in theory) should be easier to score higher marks on.

If a report recommends a change though, you can take it it will be acted on within a couple of years. The exam papers for next year are already well along in the setting stage, so it is more than likely that any hoohaa this year about a particular question or section would not be acted on until 2009.

If for example, a report was to say 'the kerflobbling section of the course was neglected in questions' you can be sure kerflobbling will be on papers in a major way (probably 2 years later).

Corruptedmorals

Leeby wrote:

Are you allowed to appeal everything? I thought there was a limit to the amount you could get rechecked to stop people from creating extra work by just sending everything, could also prove quite expensive if your marks don't change.

No I'm checking the 5 subjects with my teachers first when we get to see the scripts, then if I'm 1 or 2 percent off the next grade and the teacher thinks it will/should go up, off it goes. Atm, I need to go up by 5 points..but that could change..10 or 15 maybe. OR the first round offers could go down to 495 and I'm in without appealing

I am getting English rechecked..

I was shocked when I got a C2 in higher english. In my mock I got an A2.. although they dont really mean that much.. Throughout 5th and 6t year.. I recieved As and Bs.. it being one of my best subjects.. and then I get a C2..
I came outta that exam thinking I did really well.. So I am super pissed..

JBoyle4eva

French has me completely baffled. I came out of the oral fairly happy, written paper was a breeze and aural was a piece of piss......And I got a C3.
I'm convinced there's something wrong with my results. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a miscalculation in my marks.

However, I'm willing to accept that I may have earned that C3 but i would truly disheartened if my effort went towards a C3.

Haven't a Clue

JBoyle4eva wrote:

French has me completely baffled. I came out of the oral fairly happy, written paper was a breeze and aural was a piece of piss......And I got a C3.
I'm convinced there's something wrong with my results. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a miscalculation in my marks.

However, I'm willing to accept that I may have earned that C3 but i would truly disheartened if my effort went towards a C3.

Likewise. I was really happy with the oral, thought the aural was good and did reasonably well with the actual paper and still got a D1.

JBoyle4eva

Haven't a Clue wrote:

Likewise. I was really happy with the oral, thought the aural was good and did reasonably well with the actual paper and still got a D1.

Obviously, we caught our examiners at a tense moment or it was the last day of checking & they wanted to rush our papers.

The guy

fionated7 wrote:

im gonna appeal irish and english!!
i got a higher grade in my mocks in both subjects and wrote little or nothing for either of them!! as really happy after both exams in june jus to completely shocked yesterday... i didnt fail them or anything but i do feel like i was robbed

a good few people in my year are gettin their english re-checked!!

The same here, I went down two grades in Irish and English. I'm nearly convinced that I might get a recheck.

Rozabeez

Corruptedmorals wrote:

Yes history! No-one in my school got the A.

Wrong, there was an A2.

Not sure if Irish was marked hard or if I should've worked harder don't really remember the paper.

Mars Bar

I got a B3 in English which was an improvement on my mocks. I spoke to my English teacher today and he said the class did extrememly well and we were the "slower" of the two honours classes, we kicked their asses...and this is his first year with an exam class. He's delighted and i'm delighted for me and for him.

Will be getting History and Accounting checked, hope to pull 10 points somewhere! I had a horrible experience with Acc during the mocks...when my teacher looked over it i gained 5% in the mock , i hope the same thing happened here...

remus808

Corruptedmorals wrote:

Yes history! No-one in my school got the A. I was so sure I'd have gotten it, and got a B3. Everyone was moaning about how bad the paper was for the topics of Bismarck and eh stuff like that, but appear to have gotten A's there..maybe it was marked slightly easier if you did those topics? I loved the paper, and in my school we did the standard topics of Rising-First Dáil etc, Hitler blah blah blah and American history..think they were marked harder.

Appealing that, but I do need to appeal subjects anyway..

Your gonna hate me for this but.. I did the same topics as you, and did a total of maybe a few nights study in the months coming up to the exam.. Was expecting to fail it to be honest.. 50/50 at best.. With maybe a D1 as my dream result...

Got an A2. Bit of a miracle tbh.. No idea how I did it.. There was an A1 in my class of 7 aswell, so I don't know about how it was marked.

Selphie

Corruptedmorals, I think you're dead right to appeal History. After my exam, I was fully convinced a B3 would even be idealistic. I didnt know much about Sovietisation and stuff, and only wrote two pages (of waffle) for my last essay. The Fascism one I admit was probably okay, but even for the Anglo Irish relations, I left out from 1945 - 1948 because I just didn't know what happened then.
And not to make you feel bad (I hope not anyway) but I got an A2, which I don't feel I deserve. So, you should definitely get it rechecked. I remember you being really happy after the actual exam, so I hope it goes well for you!

Evangelion

Mackleton wrote:

Evangelion Im not sure you're entirely correct there. As far as I know when you appeal a subject it is marked by an appeal supervisor who recorrects it with the same marking scheme, thus he/she can judge that marks were awarded too generously first time round and can lower your grade if they felt it unwarranted. Therefore it is just as likely to go down as well as up.

Thats why I would warn anyone who is appealing subjects to DEFINATELY view it first WITH your teacher who can judge whether the mark will drop or not in a recorrection.

I certainly wouldn't go sending subjects back willy nilly under the assumption that they will either stay the same or go up. If that was the case then everyone would send everything back just in case.

So consider carefully guys when sending papers back, especially if you are in need of points, and dont go looking to scrape extra points if you dont really need them. I know a girl who was 5 points short of Law in UCC last year and she appealed her english, she got a nasty shock when her initial B1 paper returned a B3!!

Seems I am wrong, it's been a few years since I did mine, or maybe I'm confused with college.

Anyway, the chances of a downgrade is unlikely. It is only for a mistake in the counting up of marks or marks given outside the marking scheme.
Also only a Chief examiner can deduct marks where they are thought undeserved.

"In what circumstances can a downgrade occur?
A downgrade could result automatically if a candidate loses sufficient marks for any
of the following factual/technical reasons:-
(a) there is a clear error in the summation of marks, incorrect inclusion of marks,
(e.g., credit given for a question or part of a question that should have been
disallowed), and/or,
(b) the candidate has been awarded marks for an answer that is clearly and
unambiguously not in accordance with the marking scheme.
In addition, a Chief Examiner can recommend a downgrade where the reduction in
marks derives from an error of judgement by the examiner (as distinct from (a) and
(b) above). In such circumstances a downgrade would not normally occur where there
is a marginal difference. In other words, a revised lower mark is only reckoned where
the Chief Examiner considers it to be in line with what would be awarded by the
generality of examiners."

sd123

D. Coughlan wrote:

.......... or would it just be weird to view all my eight subjects

not at all, imo. I'm looking at ALL NINE of my subjects when i got 4 A1s:rolleyes:

drunknmunky

im getting english and irish rechecked for sure...though i wasnt happy with my oral i got an A2 in the mocks and aB2 in the leavin.similarly in english i got a B1 in english in mocks and B3 in the real.Hoping to go up maybe ten points.
I tok up biology in september of this year and got a B1 so i was pretty ahppy with that.

drunknmunky

not at all, imo. I'm looking at ALL NINE of my subjects when i got 4 A1s

are you joking??why the hell would you recheck 4 papers which are A1s.!!!

JC 2K3

He's just going to view them, it's free after all.

Like, even if I'd gotten an A1 in English I'd view it out of curiousity.