FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTICE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

vid36

Daly29 wrote: »

Just viewed my company script. Pretty strictly marked. 40 marks in my 1st 4qs. 2/20 on my last. 42 total. I was able to use my phone to take pics of my script. To the above point, mine was only checked by the internal.

Definitely worth a recheck.I was brought up from 43 to 50 in Company in a previous sitting.

yournerd

Anyone have March 2019 papers?

Rebelette288

Hi guys

I viewed the exam script I failed yesterday ( got 43)and I noticed it was only marked by an internal examiner.I note from some of the comments that some people had their scripts marked by internal and external. This may sound stupid but it was my first time viewing a script and I just presumed they would be checked by both?Wonder does anyone have any insight how they decide to send some scripts to both examiners and others only to the internal?

Also should I go ahead with a recheck? Thanks in advance!

randomrb

Rebelette288 wrote: »

Hi guys

I viewed the exam script I failed yesterday ( got 43)and I noticed it was only marked by an internal examiner.I note from some of the comments that some people had their scripts marked by internal and external. This may sound stupid but it was my first time viewing a script and I just presumed they would be checked by both?Wonder does anyone have any insight how they decide to send some scripts to both examiners and others only to the internal?

Also should I go ahead with a recheck? Thanks in advance!

There is usually a random sample sent to the external examiner to ensure that they are all up to scratch im not sure what percentage it is but i know its random

Rebelette288

randomrb wrote: »

There is usually a random sample sent to the external examiner to ensure that they are all up to scratch im not sure what percentage it is but i know its random

Ok thanks for that!Definitely random but I guess it is what it is

Lovestolisten

vid36 wrote: »

Definitely worth a recheck.I was brought up from 43 to 50 in Company in a previous sitting.

I’m just wondering about the fact that it has already been checked by the external examiner?
Is there any point in a recheck?

The external takes a random selection to ensure continuity in the internal examiners marking

Fe1hayes

I just reviewed my script 48 from internal for Eu 45 for external. It had comments on the paper saying possible pass all info correct just needs more layers . Not sure should I get it rechecked was in blackhall so just me and another girl and she had a half hour epileptic fit due to no fault of her own but shouldn’t have been in a room with her as she had had a fit previously should I appeal it on those grounds also or Is it worth it ?

channing90

Hi,

How do you request a copy of your script or is there an email address that you email to get it, if so could someone let me know Thanks.

KMPT

Hi, does anyone know what the PPC1 and II schedules are like? Would I be able to travel from far for the 7 month block and 3 month block at the law society? I won't be able to move to Dublin so if it's not possible to travel I will have to give this up. Thanks.

moomin2901

company paper- internal examiner 18% external examiner 35%. thought that was a heck of a jump

Supermax1988

KMPT wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know what the PPC1 and II schedules are like? Would I be able to travel from far for the 7 month block and 3 month block at the law society? I won't be able to move to Dublin so if it's not possible to travel I will have to give this up. Thanks.

fe1dataprivacy@lawsociety.ie

They're slow to respond so you'll most likely have to follow up with a phone call.

Does anyone on here have any experience of getting this done? How long does it usually take?

Supermax1988

KMPT wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know what the PPC1 and II schedules are like? Would I be able to travel from far for the 7 month block and 3 month block at the law society? I won't be able to move to Dublin so if it's not possible to travel I will have to give this up. Thanks.

I suppose it depends on how far away you are and long you can stick in a car every day?

I know a guy that was driving up and down nearly every day from Wexford town. He said it was tough but doable.

vid36

Supermax1988 wrote: »

fe1dataprivacy@lawsociety.ie

They're slow to respond so you'll most likely have to follow up with a phone call.

Does anyone on here have any experience of getting this done? How long does it usually take?

I got it done last session, took them about 3 weeks.

KMPT

Supermax1988 wrote: »

I suppose it depends on how far away you are and long you can stick in a car every day?

I know a guy that was driving up and down nearly every day from Wexford town. He said it was tough but doable.

I'm in Waterford. Are classes all day and every day?

vid36

Lovestolisten wrote: »

I’m just wondering about the fact that it has already been checked by the external examiner?
Is there any point in a recheck?

The external takes a random selection to ensure continuity in the internal examiners marking

If it has already been examined by the external, I would think your chances of a
significant increase are diminished, but If I was in your position , I would still get a recheck.

Jimdtug1

Does anybody have a copy of Spring 2019 Constitutional paper? Failed the exam, looked at the paper yesterday and thought I was very harshly marked but I want to check my answers against the questions before deciding whether or not to get it rechecked.

Side note - did anybody else view their constitutional paper yesterday? The examiner literally didn’t write one note or comment on my paper bar giving a grade at the end. Impossible to know how I lost/gained marks

z6vm1dobfnca3x

So having viewed my script yesterday, I've come to a few conclusions about the FE-1 exams and I'm interested to hear whether anyone agrees with me.

1. The first thing I noticed is that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to how my paper was graded. There is absolutely no indication or transparency as to what I did right and what I did wrong. There are no comments or feedback, check marks or X marks. There is nothing I can learn from going forward. There is merely one number scrawled in pencil at the end of each question. I am fully convinced that these papers are not even read properly.

2. From anecdotal reports on boards.ie and word of mouth, it appears that you are essentially guaranteed to fail one exam if you only sign up to sit three. Do you think this is an organic phenomenon, or is it possible that there may be an element of intention here by the Law Society to cull the number of candidates passing in each sitting by targeting those who they deem too stupid to sit four exams in one sitting? On that note, what even is the logic of the "Magic 3"?

3. With regard to rechecks, does anyone have any concrete evidence as to whether a recheck entails an actual reevaluation of the paper i.e. an examiner reading my paper which doesn't appear to have been read in the first place, or is it merely a re-totting of the marks? This is important because with reference to my first point, there is nothing marked on my exam paper other than a grand total of five single / double-digit numbers at the end of each question. If we need to pay €115 to have a human take out a calculator and add five numbers together over a period of six weeks, then God help us all.

Maybe I'm a cynic who is bitter after failing one exam by 6% or maybe I'm a delusional conspiracy theorist. But one thing I do know is that I'm not the only one who is of this opinion. My question then is, why do we keep handing over our money and resigning ourselves to this manifest unfairness?

On a side note, click here for an interesting report from September 2018 which made some interesting findings about the (un)fairness of the FE-1 exams.

vid36

Kyree Bumpy Shrimp wrote: »

So having viewed my script yesterday, I've come to a few conclusions about the FE-1 exams and I'm interested to hear whether anyone agrees with me.

1. The first thing I noticed is that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to how my paper was graded. There is absolutely no indication or transparency as to what I did right and what I did wrong. There are no comments or feedback, check marks or X marks. There is nothing I can learn from going forward. There is merely one number scrawled in pencil at the end of each question. I am fully convinced that these papers are not even read properly.

2. From anecdotal reports on boards.ie and word of mouth, it appears that you are essentially guaranteed to fail one exam if you only sign up to sit three. Do you think this is an organic phenomenon, or is it possible that there may be an element of intention here by the Law Society to cull the number of candidates passing in each sitting by targeting those who they deem too stupid to sit four exams in one sitting? On that note, what even is the logic of the "Magic 3"?

3. With regard to rechecks, does anyone have any concrete evidence as to whether a recheck entails an actual reevaluation of the paper i.e. an examiner reading my paper which doesn't appear to have been read in the first place, or is it merely a re-totting of the marks? This is important because with reference to my first point, there is nothing marked on my exam paper other than a grand total of five single / double-digit numbers at the end of each question. If we need to pay €115 to have a human take out a calculator and add five numbers together over a period of six weeks, then God help us all.

Maybe I'm a cynic who is bitter after failing one exam by 6% or maybe I'm a delusional conspiracy theorist. But one thing I do know is that I'm not the only one who is of this opinion. My question then is, why do we keep handing over our money and resigning ourselves to this manifest unfairness?

On a side note, click here for an interesting report from September 2018 which made some interesting findings about the (un)fairness of the FE-1 exams.

People have lost marks on rechecks.That is proof it is not a calculation error.Also , the fact external examiners have graded papers differently.

Daly29

Jimdtug1 wrote: »

Does anybody have a copy of Spring 2019 Constitutional paper? Failed the exam, looked at the paper yesterday and thought I was very harshly marked but I want to check my answers against the questions before deciding whether or not to get it rechecked.

Side note - did anybody else view their constitutional paper yesterday? The examiner literally didn’t write one note or comment on my paper bar giving a grade at the end. Impossible to know how I lost/gained marks

Copying from a previous comment:

1 Problem Q. Challenge to an international agreement that Ireland is entering into.
Q2 Essay Q. Mallack v Minister for Justice.
Q3 Essay Q. Referenda. Mc Kenna (2) and Mc Crystal represent inappropriate interferences with politics.
Q4 Case Note Q. M v Min for Justice and Equality (2018); Meadows v Minister for Justice; Re Art 26 and the Employment Equality Bill 1996; Persona Digital Telephony v Min for Public Enterprise.
Q5 Problem Q. Blood sample taken from Paula by Gardaí after road traffic accident turns back a negative and no charges are brought. Years later she applies for a job as a teaching assistant and is turned down because it says the Gardaí informed the school that she was likely to have been under the influence of alcohol. Advise Paula in context of the retention of the blood sample and the disclosure of information. I wrote about the right to privacy and the right to earn a liveihood mainly. Not sure if that was the right tack. Tricky one.
Q6 Prob Q. Betty's house is searched by Gardaí. Gun found. Warrant was wrong and Gardaí knew that. I wrote about unconstitutionally obtained evidence here.
Q7 Essay Q. That the Irish constitution gives an unusually strong protection to property rights is overstated and the Oireachtas actually has quite some latitude.
Q8 Problem Q. Michael wears a cross overtly to work every day in the dept of agriculture. The dept issues a circular saying that such jewellery of any kind. Constitutional recourse for Michael. Religion and the Heaney proportionality test were relevant to this question in my view.
I thought it was a fair paper overall. Further evidence that the case note question is a waste of time. Basically had 7 questions to work with. The case note question is often a shaft in constitutional and is almost always a shaft in EU in my opinion.

Lovestolisten

Kyree Bumpy Shrimp wrote: »

So having viewed my script yesterday, I've come to a few conclusions about the FE-1 exams and I'm interested to hear whether anyone agrees with me.

1. The first thing I noticed is that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to how my paper was graded. There is absolutely no indication or transparency as to what I did right and what I did wrong. There are no comments or feedback, check marks or X marks. There is nothing I can learn from going forward. There is merely one number scrawled in pencil at the end of each question. I am fully convinced that these papers are not even read properly.

2. From anecdotal reports on boards.ie and word of mouth, it appears that you are essentially guaranteed to fail one exam if you only sign up to sit three. Do you think this is an organic phenomenon, or is it possible that there may be an element of intention here by the Law Society to cull the number of candidates passing in each sitting by targeting those who they deem too stupid to sit four exams in one sitting? On that note, what even is the logic of the "Magic 3"?

3. With regard to rechecks, does anyone have any concrete evidence as to whether a recheck entails an actual reevaluation of the paper i.e. an examiner reading my paper which doesn't appear to have been read in the first place, or is it merely a re-totting of the marks? This is important because with reference to my first point, there is nothing marked on my exam paper other than a grand total of five single / double-digit numbers at the end of each question. If we need to pay €115 to have a human take out a calculator and add five numbers together over a period of six weeks, then God help us all.

Maybe I'm a cynic who is bitter after failing one exam by 6% or maybe I'm a delusional conspiracy theorist. But one thing I do know is that I'm not the only one who is of this opinion. My question then is, why do we keep handing over our money and resigning ourselves to this manifest unfairness?

On a side note, click here for an interesting report from September 2018 which made some interesting findings about the (un)fairness of the FE-1 exams.

Pass rates grid is interesting .. No wonder I can’t pass Equity .. only 48% in 2017

bluntspoon

Kyree Bumpy Shrimp wrote: »

So having viewed my script yesterday, I've come to a few conclusions about the FE-1 exams and I'm interested to hear whether anyone agrees with me.

On point 2, I sat only three exams my first time and passed them all. I know a couple of others who have done the same. So can't agree with you there.

Rebelette288

Kyree Bumpy Shrimp wrote: »

So having viewed my script yesterday, I've come to a few conclusions about the FE-1 exams and I'm interested to hear whether anyone agrees with me.

1. The first thing I noticed is that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to how my paper was graded. There is absolutely no indication or transparency as to what I did right and what I did wrong. There are no comments or feedback, check marks or X marks. There is nothing I can learn from going forward. There is merely one number scrawled in pencil at the end of each question. I am fully convinced that these papers are not even read properly.

2. From anecdotal reports on boards.ie and word of mouth, it appears that you are essentially guaranteed to fail one exam if you only sign up to sit three. Do you think this is an organic phenomenon, or is it possible that there may be an element of intention here by the Law Society to cull the number of candidates passing in each sitting by targeting those who they deem too stupid to sit four exams in one sitting? On that note, what even is the logic of the "Magic 3"?

3. With regard to rechecks, does anyone have any concrete evidence as to whether a recheck entails an actual reevaluation of the paper i.e. an examiner reading my paper which doesn't appear to have been read in the first place, or is it merely a re-totting of the marks? This is important because with reference to my first point, there is nothing marked on my exam paper other than a grand total of five single / double-digit numbers at the end of each question. If we need to pay €115 to have a human take out a calculator and add five numbers together over a period of six weeks, then God help us all.

Maybe I'm a cynic who is bitter after failing one exam by 6% or maybe I'm a delusional conspiracy theorist. But one thing I do know is that I'm not the only one who is of this opinion. My question then is, why do we keep handing over our money and resigning ourselves to this manifest unfairness?

On a side note, click here for an interesting report from September 2018 which made some interesting findings about the (un)fairness of the FE-1 exams.

1. Totally agree with you about the scripts. I went up to view the script that I had failed in the mistaken belief that there would be some comments/feedback on where I went wrong but nothing- very frustrating. Moreover, it was only corrected by an internal examiner and I had mistakenly believed that all scripts were sent to both internal and external but I have since found out on here that only a random sample are sent to external. Again, this is incredibly unfair- either all scripts go to external or none is my belief!At this stage, I am not prepared to fork out 115 euro to get it rechecked and I use this term loosely because based on what I saw on Sunday I have no way of knowing if 1. my script was actually even read (no comments to indicate that it was) 2. no guarantee that it will go to an external examiner and 3. if external would read it and give comments or just simply tot up the marks again.

2. Re the Magic 3 congrats to those you did get these on the first go but in my opinion these are few and far between. I got 2 in October and had to repeat again in March. Delighted to say that I now have the Magic 3 in the bag but I saw so many familiar faces in March and spoke to many that were in the same boat as myself trying to get the Magic 3. Some people say "Oh you can't leave anything out" and they are right you cannot but I covered absolutely everything in October and studied non stop and still missed out on the 3. There is no rhyme or reason to these exams bearing in mind that I got 1HS/2H1s in my law degree like many others on here.

3. See my comments on 1 above.

Thank you for posting the report must have a proper look at it. Unfortunately though, I cannot see anything changing in the near future

randomrb

Moreover, it was only corrected by an internal examiner and I had mistakenly believed that all scripts were sent to both internal and external but I have since found out on here that only a random sample are sent to external. Again, this is incredibly unfair- either all scripts go to external or none is my belief!

This is standard practice in any exam from junior cert to college exams as far as I am aware....

Rebelette288

randomrb wrote: »

This is standard practice in any exam from junior cert to college exams as far as I am aware....

Perhaps you are right but I do know that when I did an essay/assignment in university there was always feedback on how it was totted up. Also bearing in mind that the Law Society are getting 100 odd per exam the least the examiners could do is read the script...

z6vm1dobfnca3x

Rebelette288 wrote: »

Unfortunately though, I cannot see anything changing in the near future

I hope this isn't true. Skip to Page 129 of the Report and read from Section 7.7. This report is from September 2018 and follows a Submission from the Law Society from June 2018.

In their submission, the Law Society maintain the opinion that the FE1s are the most appropriate way to "ensure a common standard of competence in the core areas of law."

The Hook Tangaza report however, makes numerous findings about the lack of transparency, oversight, governance and regulation of the FE1s.

In response to these findings, I can see that the LSRA will be providing recommendations to the Law Society based on these findings, so I would like to think that these findings are being taken seriously and that significant changes will be made!

vid36

Kyree Bumpy Shrimp wrote: »

I hope this isn't true. Skip to Page 129 of the Report and read from Section 7.7. This report is from September 2018 and follows a Submission from the Law Society from June 2018.

In their submission, the Law Society maintain the opinion that the FE1s are the most appropriate way to "ensure a common standard of competence in the core areas of law."

The Hook Tangaza report however, makes numerous findings about the lack of transparency, oversight, governance and regulation of the FE1s.

In response to these findings, I can see that the LSRA will be providing recommendations to the Law Society based on these findings, so I would like to think that these findings are being taken seriously and that significant changes will be made!

This whole process will take a few years.Not much good to current students.

z6vm1dobfnca3x

vid36 wrote: »

This whole process will take a few years.Not much good to current students.

Well considering how ridiculous and time consuming the current system is, it would probably be faster to wait for an overhaul and start over when the blatant unfairness has been eradicated!

Rebelette288

vid36 wrote: »

This whole process will take a few years.Not much good to current students.

I am inclined to agree. I can't see anything changing in the next few years, certainly positive that recommendations have been made, but can't see things radically in the near future

Tony_TwoLegs

KMPT wrote: »

I'm in Waterford. Are classes all day and every day?

I queried this with them back in March. Basically, the timetable is fluid. You might be in 5 days one week and 4 the next. There are hours you be just hanging about between classes.
Did you go to a NUI ?? Think along the lines of those timetables. But, with weekly discrepancies.
I know this doesn't answer it definitely but it's as firm an answer I got.
I was all set to move up midweek but I'm unsure what I'm doing now - even though I've the FE1s passed.

ally1234

Has any kind person a decent template of a cover letter for applying to training contract??
I got one a couple of years ago from Law Society seminar about finding a TC but have misplaced it. My current letter is just not hitting the spot. I keep changing it, its either too longwinded or two short. In exchange i have notes on all subjects (except Constitutional) that i will gladly pass on.