the english was a real **** lads

jhon boy

how did you get on :eek:

EoghanIRL

A
But only because of Dickinson .

aleatorio

I think we've all witness me panicking around this site thinking Id do ****... Came out with an A1 :pac:
English is one of those subjects that never fails to shock people, either good, or bad :P

robman60

Got an A1. It's terribly unpredictable so I was happy to get it!

FlyingIrishMan

B2. Up 20% from the mocks so happy with that.

peekachoo

EoghanIRL wrote: »

A
But only because of Dickinson .

A. Also because of dickinson

LauraaWhelann

A1 thought I did far worse but just proves that it's so unpredictable!

Delightfully Bright

A1 as well but I was hoping for a B3 before I got my results. It's one of those subjects that's extremely unpredictable.

kippy

Jaysus, a smart bunch of ye on here!
Well done.

Lollipop95

C1, 2 grades up from the mocks. Kind of disappointed tbh, I thought I would've done better than that, I put work into it from the mocks so it's improvement but I love english so I feel I could have done better. A girl in my class who isn't really that good managed a B2 :eek: another girl who I thought was bang on for an A got a B3

Mario95

C2, I am really not sure why... I thought it went great
I don't like the way examiners can correct English paper pretty much however they like. They could bring you down a grade or two if they have a bad day

HelenAnn

My cert tells me I got a B1 but I don't even know how that is possible! I wrote my Section B piece for a TV broadcast by accident instead of for radio, my composing essay was only 3 pages long and I only half finished both the studied poetry and unseen poetry sections on Paper 2 ... I reckon there was either some dodgy totalling or I had a very lenient corrector!

randylonghorn

Mario95 wrote: »

I don't like the way examiners can correct English paper pretty much however they like.

They can't; there's a marking conference, discussions, a marking scheme, cross-checking by supervising examiners, etc. etc. just like in every other subject.

What is true is that English is somewhat more subjective than say Maths or Physics ... there is no absolute 'right' answer and to a certain extent markers have to use their own judgement as to how well you have made your argument etc.

Tbh, there is no way English can be marked any differently, but it does make it less predictable than other subjects all right.

Mario95

randylonghorn wrote: »

They can't; there's a marking conference, discussions, a marking scheme, cross-checking by supervising examiners, etc. etc. just like in every other subject.

What is true is that English is somewhat more subjective than say Maths or Physics ... there is no absolute 'right' answer and to a certain extent markers have to use their own judgement as to how well you have made your argument etc.

Tbh, there is no way English can be marked any differently, but it does make it less predictable than other subjects all right.

Yes they can? I have seen the past marking schemes and they are very vague. I doubt that conferences and discussions change the situation by much, after all there's still a lot of successful appeals and upgrades every year, which just proves how ineffective some examiners are.

Sure they probably cant give an A standard student a D, but I don't see how its not possible to to give a B3 standard student a C2

spurious

There are a number of checks and rechecks in place before the marks even leave the correctors. There is no need to go into detail on them here, but suffice to say, the errors are few and far between in terms of correcting.

randylonghorn

No, they can't "give students pretty much what they like", Mario. :rolleyes:

The same systems are in place as for every other subject; yes, there will always be more upgrades in English than in other subjects because it IS as I said more subjective, it's the nature of the subject.

How would YOU suggest LC English be assessed so as to be less subjective (which basically means focussing on "right / wrong" answers) while still assessing the standard of the student's English, their ability to analyse and critique texts, etc., rather than on simple facts like when a poet was born or purely technical matters like definitions of things like metaphors, iambic pentameter, similes, etc.?

Mario95

Leaving cert is a tool used to quantify student's skills, abilities and knowledge. If a subject fails to do so, it clearly shouldn't exist, or should at least be optional. If we really want to keep it as it is, then there should be more (5 or more) examiners checking each paper, and after eliminating the 'outliers' in the grades, an average percentage mark should be calculated.
This way we would see a true grade, and not a grade influenced by someone's unwanted opinions.

randylonghorn

Mario95 wrote: »

Leaving cert is a tool used to quantify student's skills, abilities and knowledge. If a subject fails to do so, it clearly shouldn't exist, or should at least be optional.

No, English ... the day-to-day language of the majority of people in this country, the language which most people will end up being lectured to and examined through at third level, the language which most people will primarily use at work throughout their lives ... should not be optional for the main exam at the end of second level.

Mario95 wrote: »

If we really want to keep it as it is, then there should be more (5 or more) examiners checking each paper, and after eliminating the 'outliers' in the grades, an average percentage mark should be calculated.
This way we would see a true grade, and not a grade influenced by someone's unwanted opinions.

Grand. Tell your parents to expect another serious tax hike or stealth tax to fund all that.

Seriously, lad, I'm not sure what kind of a world you live in where all sorts of things can automagically happen without a cost (you don't happen to go to school with a lad called Harry, do you, with a scar on his forehead?) but it's not the world the rest of us live in, and especially not for the last few years.

Macavity.

Hogwarts was actually funded by tuition fees, if I remember rightly.

jhon boy

randylonghorn wrote: »

No, English ... the day-to-day language of the majority of people in this country, the language which most people will end up being lectured to and examined through at third level, the language which most people will primarily use at work throughout their lives ... should not be optional for the main exam at the end of second level.

Grand. Tell your parents to expect another serious tax hike or stealth tax to fund all that.

Seriously, lad, I'm not sure what kind of a world you live in where all sorts of things can automagically happen without a cost (you don't happen to go to school with a lad called Harry, do you, with a scar on his forehead?) but it's not the world the rest of us live in, and especially not for the last few years.

sure we will just ask the germans for a few pound :rolleyes: they love lending us money

Nick_1494

This was easily my worst result! I've been a solid B1-A2 student for the past two years! I debate and write for a local paper and I was happy coming out of the exam. For my debates I wrote my check list on the answer book so I could tick the features off as I went... Opened my results and was faced with the wet, hard, cold smack of a C2.
Devastated would be an understatement right now.

Mario95

randylonghorn wrote: »

No, English ... the day-to-day language of the majority of people in this country, the language which most people will end up being lectured to and examined through at third level, the language which most people will primarily use at work throughout their lives ... should not be optional for the main exam at the end of second level.

I don't really know what you are talking about. It sounds like you are trying to say that the LC subject, English actually helps us to improve the use of "day-to-day language", or is somehow required to understand the lectures in third level institutions. Tell me how many people, at work, require the knowledge of how to write essays on 'How Plath makes an effective use of language to explore her personal experiences of suffering", or on anything else tested in the LC English exams.
It is not the English language being taught, it the English literature, besides most (if not all) people going into 5th year already have the necessary communication skills they learned in years 1-3 (JC).
Sure there is some useful stuff to English, like functional writing, but schools don't really spend any time teaching these (at least mine) and it was already covered in the JC.

randylonghorn wrote: »

Seriously, lad, I'm not sure what kind of a world you live in where all sorts of things can automagically happen without a cost (you don't happen to go to school with a lad called Harry, do you, with a scar on his forehead?) but it's not the world the rest of us live in, and especially not for the last few years.

I am not saying it would be without any extra costs. I am just saying that if you want to force everyone into doing English, then at least the marking process shouldn't be as defective as it is now - at any costs. And if you want to keep the defective system, then give people a choice, because I am sure that not everyone likes the idea of spending 2 years studying a subject and then having a big enough chance of being marked incorrectly and not getting enough points for their course.


PS. sorry for this argument/debate stuff - I am just angry because I most likely didn't get enough points for my first choice

robman60

While English definitely is more subjective than the likes of Maths, I think students tend to overestimate the effect of it on their grades. Going on the small sample of my own class, people tended to get exactly what I would have expected in English. There were no students who had been Ds all along who suddenly got an A1 and vice versa.

I think this belief stems from people overestimating their ability in English. Speaking it as your first language is not enough to give you a B or an A. You need to hone your skills of persuasion (if you do speeches/talks) and pay attention to spelling and punctuation! Very good spelling and grammar is an absolute must for an A grade in my opinion.

Mario95

robman60 wrote: »

While English definitely is more subjective than the likes of Maths, I think students tend to overestimate the effect of it on their grades. Going on the small sample of my own class, people tended to get exactly what I would have expected in English. There were no students who had been Ds all along who suddenly got an A1 and vice versa.

I think this belief stems from people overestimating their ability in English. Speaking it as your first language is not enough to give you a B or an A. You need to hone your skills of persuasion (if you do speeches/talks) and pay attention to spelling and punctuation! Very good spelling and grammar is an absolute must for an A grade in my opinion.

The weird thing is that I was getting low to mid Bs in my mocks, etc. but I only got a C2 in my LC, and I thought it went really well.

robman60

Mario95 wrote: »

The weird thing is that I was getting low to mid Bs in my mocks, etc. but I only got a C2 in my LC, and I thought it went really well.

I didn't mean my previous post in a personal way, it was more an observation I've made in general.

If you've been a B student all along and you feel you had maintained your standard, then consider a recheck. There's obviously a high chance nothing will change but if you feel you did better than your grade, I'd recheck, regardless of whether I needed the points or not. My cousin wanted Pharmacy about 8 years ago and went up a staggering 40 points on 4-5 rechecks. He had already started it in the UK by that point, however. The fact that the rechecks are out so late is something which almost negates the benefit of rechecks in my opinion.

spurious

Unless your teacher has experience of marking for the SEC, they may not be sure themselves what the acceptable standard is.

bb1234567

HelenAnn wrote: »

My cert tells me I got a B1 but I don't even know how that is possible! I wrote my Section B piece for a TV broadcast by accident instead of for radio, my composing essay was only 3 pages long and I only half finished both the studied poetry and unseen poetry sections on Paper 2 ... I reckon there was either some dodgy totalling or I had a very lenient corrector!

Literally me hahaha I feel like I got very lucky. I would actually be afraid to get my english paper rechecked for fear it was totalled up wrong and I did better than I should have:p

Missovoxo

Mario95 wrote: »

C2, I am really not sure why... I thought it went great
I don't like the way examiners can correct English paper pretty much however they like. They could bring you down a grade or two if they have a bad day

same!

HauntedGhost

I got an A2 and I did a short story and it was 4 pages and i didn't think it was that good. I've never got more than a B3 in English before. I'm gonna view it when i viewing the rest

nailforhammer

Nick_1494 wrote: »

This was easily my worst result! I've been a solid B1-A2 student for the past two years! I debate and write for a local paper and I was happy coming out of the exam. For my debates I wrote my check list on the answer book so I could tick the features off as I went... Opened my results and was faced with the wet, hard, cold smack of a C2.
Devastated would be an understatement right now.

I was the same consistently getting As in English in almost all areas. I was getting 96-100% in poetry and Personal Essays. 90% in Comparative questions and generally 47/50 for comprehensions and question B. I was certain I'd get an A. I had work published, like you and while I didn't get a C, I was equally shocked when I read my results to find I had got a B2.

robman60 wrote: »

While English definitely is more subjective than the likes of Maths, I think students tend to overestimate the effect of it on their grades. Going on the small sample of my own class, people tended to get exactly what I would have expected in English. There were no students who had been Ds all along who suddenly got an A1 and vice versa.

I think this belief stems from people overestimating their ability in English. Speaking it as your first language is not enough to give you a B or an A. You need to hone your skills of persuasion (if you do speeches/talks) and pay attention to spelling and punctuation! Very good spelling and grammar is an absolute must for an A grade in my opinion.

I honestly do not feel I was overestimating my ability. I even had another English teacher correct my work and she gave me As and even 100% at times too. A third corrector gave me an A in the Pre. Two of those, I can confirm, corrected for the Leaving Cert.

On another point, yes I know spelling and grammar is essential to get an A in English or any language for that matter. In fact I love spelling and grammar, this passion being the main reason I got an A in my other two languages, Irish and Spanish.

Language, writing and communicating effectively (the basis of English as a subject) are things I really enjoy in life. My result left me devastated and I believe is an unfair representation of the work I put into English, and crafting my writing skills.

JDOC1996

I got an A1, honestly don't know how, but over the moon to say the least seeing as I had neglected it for the last month and crammed everything in a few days beforehand. I had also always been around the b2 mark so I'm delighted.

yohan the great

Got a B3 somehow. My comparative was pretty awful so I must have done well on the rest of it

Shane15

I thought both papers went wonderfully and was expecting to get a B at least... I ended up with a C3.

Musicis4life13

I had never written a comparative essay before i sat paper 2 as my teacher went on maternity leave and we got a new one and he assumed we'd previously done one. Came out of there with a B2 I'm honestly very happy with that as I'd been just barely scrapping B3's all year.

xLisaBx

I got an A1, didn't open a book for 2 years which probably was a bad idea. I always remembered random Macbeth and poetry quotes, learned nothing and didn't read one of my comparative texts. I genuinely feel guilty as some people paid for 2 years of grinds and studied religiously for2 years and got B's.

HauntedGhost

xLisaBx wrote: »

I got an A1, didn't open a book for 2 years which probably was a bad idea. I always remembered random Macbeth and poetry quotes, learned nothing and didn't read one of my comparative texts. I genuinely feel guilty as some people paid for 2 years of grinds and studied religiously for2 years and got B's.

You shouldn't feel bad. Your exam must of been really good so you deserve the A1.

xLisaBx

HauntedGhost wrote: »

You shouldn't feel bad. Your exam must of been really good so you deserve the A1.

I like writing, it's my only hobby. Still, some people are offended

conor1508

Got 41% in the mocks, decided to forget about English and to not use it for points. Ended up with a B1 and counting it for points instead of French, after only studying the bare minimum the night before and the morning of the exam. So it's safe to say I was shocked!

rorrissey

B2 because Heaney didn't come up! :pac: He will always be my favorite poet, though.

robman60

nailforhammer wrote: »

I honestly do not feel I was overestimating my ability. I even had another English teacher correct my work and she gave me As and even 100% at times too. A third corrector gave me an A in the Pre. Two of those, I can confirm, corrected for the Leaving Cert.

On another point, yes I know spelling and grammar is essential to get an A in English or any language for that matter. In fact I love spelling and grammar, this passion being the main reason I got an A in my other two languages, Irish and Spanish.

Language, writing and communicating effectively (the basis of English as a subject) are things I really enjoy in life. My result left me devastated and I believe is an unfair representation of the work I put into English, and crafting my writing skills.

In your case, you have solid reasons as to why you should have done better. You should view your paper and appeal if that's how you feel.

My comment was merely directed at a large cohort who seem to think turning out several pages of rambling stuff is how you get a top grade.

Ciaran511

I got a C1 at higher which is exceptional for me considering the highest I ever got in an exam before that was a D2 in my mock!