Is 38% a Pass?

yeah-boy

just listened to countdown to 306 and the person reviewing maths said 38% is the pass grade in every subject ...

TheManWho

It's a pass but I don't think you get any points for it

Pygmalion

I believe 40% is a pass, would find it hard to believe that they'd pick such an ugly number for it, and then give no points.

QueenOfLeon

I think he means that if you get as far as 38%, the examiner will do his/her best to give you attempt marks and such to drag you up to a 40% pass. Which you'll get points for, its a D3

Mr. Gruff

38% is a fail (E grade). You get nil points.
40% is a D3 worth 45 points at higher level and 5 at ordinary.

peanuthead

I didn't think it was a pass.



Percentage Range
Grade



90 or over


A1



85 but less than 90


A2



80 but less than 85


B1



75 but less than 80


B2



70 but less than 75


B3



65 but less than 70


C1



60 but less than 65


C2



55 but less than 60


C3



50 but less than 55


D1



45 but less than 50


D2



40 but less than 45


D3



25 but less than 40


E



10 but less than 25


F



Less than 10


No Grade


Taken from the department's website, and there are no points for E, F, NG as previous poster said.

poisonated

As far as I know its just maths that 38 percent is a pass.I could be wrong...

yeah-boy

he was so sure of it cos he said to pass maths you need 114 in both papers .... someone i know got 39 percent in her pre's and dropped back to ordinary ... would you be given a d3?

Davidius

From what I've heard that's supposed to be a myth. Of course I'd love it if it were true as everytime I fail Irish I seem to get at least get 38%.

I would hope that the examiner would at least try to find a way to bring you up to a pass if they could. Of course, not all examiners are an endless fountain of giving and obviously can't deviate from the marking scheme.

peanuthead

the examiner would want to be a real meanie not to bring you up to 40 at 39. This is why you should never scribble anything out. Extra work etc ahould always be handed up, who knows what gems are hidden in it

yeah-boy

but he quoted 114 in both papers in his talk ?

robdrog

Its true, If you get 38 or 39 they bring you up to a pass.

DDC1990

Doin higher level... don't know why!
Flickin through Past Papers! Cramming! So many Formulae!
Hope I don't end up as the feckin eejit inside the exam with the blank answer book, and Please don't fail me written on it!


Panic over. Back to -b+-sq(b^2-4ac)/2a

Ramey

I would like to know this as well, would be great in Irish, which I am currently struggling to pass...

Fad

Percentage isnt taking into account in the grading of exams.


X marks gets a D3 etc.

Not sure of the actual marks though.

zonEEE

If you get 38 the examiner will go back over the paper and do his/her best to get you the extra 2% and from what ive been told they will get you it.

gotabi

38% is a pass, but only in maths

40% is the pass rate in everything else

-ME-

One of those teachers speaking on RTE 2 before Home and Away the other week said that if you get 38% in maths you'll pass in the LC.

poisonated

Well I got 38 in my christmas test.I was really annoyed until I was told that it was a pass:p

do you get points for 38 percent,is it counted as a d3??

GA361

yeah-boy wrote: »

just listened to countdown to 306 and the person reviewing maths said 38% is the pass grade in every subject ...

I is given as a D3 as it is generally accepted that in maths there is a 2% margin of error.For example,whilst one examiner may give 3 points for an attempt mark,another may give it 4 . . . etc

spurious

Definitely at Junior Cert. the instruction to examiners is that if a candidate gets to the equivalent of 38%, the paper should be looked over to see is there anywhere they could be given an extra one or two marks to bring them up to the pass mark. I haven't corrected LC, so I can't say for sure if that is the case there.

Claypigeon

spurious wrote: »

Definitely at Junior Cert. the instruction to examiners is that if a candidate gets to the equivalent of 38%, the paper should be looked over to see is there anywhere they could be given an extra one or two marks to bring them up to the pass mark. I haven't corrected LC, so I can't say for sure if that is the case there.

Any other bits of reassuring information from the PoV of an examiner?

randylonghorn

spurious wrote: »

Definitely at Junior Cert. the instruction to examiners is that if a candidate gets to the equivalent of 38%, the paper should be looked over to see is there anywhere they could be given an extra one or two marks to bring them up to the pass mark. I haven't corrected LC, so I can't say for sure if that is the case there.

Similar was said to LC examiners in the past certainly, from personal experience.

In any case, I doubt it even needs to be said, any examiner worth their salt is not going to turn in a paper at 38 / 39 without checking it carefully.

Same approach holds at third level in fact.



Also: remember that senior examiners cross-moderate between groups of individual examiners, and the chief examiner and his / her assistants cross-moderate between them, all to ensure that marking is as consistent as possible; and they will often concentrate on borderline papers just above or just below the cut-off points.

It's not infallible, but the system is fairer than you might think!

knifey_spoonie

From my experience it wasn a pass, it made the difference for me of my first or second choice on cao, and i didnt get my first choice.

I was at 38%

PurpleFistMixer

What of the case where the papers are individually graded, so overall the student gets 38%, but individually the graders saw no grey area (say they got 50% in one and 26% in another)? Though, not sure if that happens...

MathsManiac

As has been pointed out on previous occasions in other threads, and on the radio:

The SEC's computer spits out a D3 when the mark is 38% or above, in any subject. In maths, which is marked out of 600, you get a D3 for 228 marks and an E for 227 marks.

Examiners may or may not be aware of this, because they are instructed to do all their business on the basis that the boundary is 40%.

This is evident from viewing scripts in September.

If anyone still doesn't believe this, contact the SEC for confirmation. (Mind you, they might be busy with other things for the next few days!)

spurious

Claypigeon wrote: »

Any other bits of reassuring information from the PoV of an examiner?

Examiners really try to find as many marks as possible for a candidate.
Nobody (despite many cases of bravado) goes into an exam not caring how they do, so I figure every script that comes in front of me deserves to get every possible mark it can.

Blank spaces or unanswered questions drive examiners mad.
Illegible handwriting is very difficult and frustrating to correct.

Personally, I used to find it very satisfying if a script from an obviously struggling student ended up passing.

If things do not work out the way you wanted in the Leaving, there is ALWAYS another way to get where you want.

carlmango11

They mark you up if you're a few marks off a pass

Or so my Irish teacher told me

kelle

My guess is that marks are rounded to the nearest 5. Which would mean 37.5% is a pass.

38% is a pass in Maths ONLY.

Spudmonkey

Jeez.... Reach a bit higher...

rainbowtrout

carlmango11 wrote: »

They mark you up if you're a few marks off a pass

Or so my Irish teacher told me

only if marks can be found somewhere on your paper. It's not a case of you being on 53 and just adding on 2 marks to give 55 for a C3. The marks have to be justified on the paper. Examiners do look at borderline grades to see if they can be brought up, in all grade levels not just around the 40 mark.

kelle wrote: »

My guess is that marks are rounded to the nearest 5. Which would mean 37.5% is a pass.

Marks are not rounded in any subject in the leaving cert. I correct ag science.