Cluaistuiscint Problem- What rights do we have?

So here's the story. Our 6th year was split up into two rooms- the library and the table tennis hall, with me being in the latter.

It is very well known in our school that this room is quite echoy. Anyway, as soon as the tape started, alot of us, including myself (I was right down the back), complained that we couldn't hear a single thing. The cd was also skipping, so I was glad to see it being changed. However, the new one was no different: it was also skipping and the sound quality was disgraceful. I knew exactly where the answers were, but when the words came out, I found them to be very muffled.

So one of the attendants went to the back of the room, and she said she could hear it fine. She must have some kind of superpowers or something, because barely any of us could hear it!

We continued complaining throughout it, however nothing was done about, since the attendant could hear it and there was a few people down the back that said they could hear it too.

I got 89% on my tape in the mocks, and it's one of my strong areas in Irish. But I felt I got at most 30% in this. I done really well in Paper 1 and the Oral, and I felt I was on the course for a B1. But after the tape, the best I can now hope for is a C1.

The people in the library said they could hear it perfectly. I am one of only two HL Irish students in our class, and the other one, who was in the library, said he thought it was very easy, even though he got 46% in the mocks.

So I ask you, do I have a right to complain? And if so, how do I go about it and what would be done?

randomfella

god i feel your pain. I was in a small room with a modern cd player couldn't have asked for it to be better.

Firstly don't mind what the other higher level guy said, for him easy could have been 50%, don't forget that.

I really think your being hard on yourself as regards saying you got only 30% especially if you got 89% in the mocks.

However i do think u should pursue the issue. I know it won't be of any use to you know, but you really should have stood up and said you can't hear it. BUt as for now, maybe go to your principal or exam supervisor.(did u mean the supervisor or the attendant in your post who said they could hear it?)

The same thing happened to me, except no one else seemed to have a problem with it.

StupidLikeAFox

hmmm, id be inclined to say you should have been more insistent.

CoffeeFreak

I had exactly the same problem! I was in a big hall and like you, I knew where the answers were, but they were all muffled with the echo.
The only thing is that nobody complained, so I'd say I've got a lot less rights than you .

god i feel your pain. I was in a small room with a modern cd player couldn't have asked for it to be better.

Firstly don't mind what the other higher level guy said, for him easy could have been 50%, don't forget that.

I really think your being hard on yourself as regards saying you got only 30% especially if you got 89% in the mocks.

However i do think u should pursue the issue. I know it won't be of any use to you know, but you really should have stood up and said you can't hear it. BUt as for now, maybe go to your principal or exam supervisor.(did u mean the supervisor or the attendant in your post who said they could hear it?)

I meant the supervisor! Sorry!

What I also forgot to mention is that the cd stuttered, i.e it took pauses when it shouldn't have. That didn't really affect the quality but it was kinda distracting.


If you were in a small room with an echo Randomfella, could you imagine being in a room that can fit about 20 table tennis tables?! By the time the sound waves got to me at the back of the room, well, let's just say it wasn't the best.

And I was being honest. I REALLY do think I only got 30%. I didn't even write down anything for a few of them. It was that bad.

Randomfella, are you going to complain? Or was yours only a minor glitch?

And has anyone heard of someone successfully complaining about the aural? What happened?

ColHol

ColHol wrote:

hmmm, id be inclined to say you should have been more insistent.

I was as insistent as possible! During almost every beak I complained, as did some other people. You really have to see this hall to believe it. It's almost as big as the downstairs of most schools!

randomfella

u misread my post. i said my tape was perfect.

i still say u should complain.

randomfella

randomfella wrote:

u misread my post. i said my tape was perfect.

i still say u should complain.

Oh yeh. Sorry.

And is there any other way I could complain? I mean the supervisor wasn't very helpful the first time I complained?

Also, for those that did have an echo, how much do you think it affected your grade? And are you going to complain?

Cherry_Pie

I was the same! We were in the choir room! OH Jaysus!!!! and I was down the back! Which was Stupid! I was one of a few honors in the room we should have at least have gotten to sit up the front but they moved us around and I lost my front seat! Im with you on the complaining front, Im gonna try and see what can be done now!

Cherry_Pie

Cherry_Pie wrote:

I was the same! We were in the choir room! OH Jaysus!!!! and I was down the back! Which was Stupid! I was one of a few honors in the room we should have at least have gotten to sit up the front but they moved us around and I lost my front seat! Im with you on the complaining front, Im gonna try and see what can be done now!

Did you complain while you were there? And how are you going to go about complaining?

Cherry_Pie

Yes I did! The examiner turned it up which made it worse!!! So the girl infront of me complained and basically nothing could be done! Im googling the Ed Dept now and getting numbers, Im going to ring when I get home from paper 2 tomorrow prob closed now! Its a disgrace!!!! Im soo angry! Im repeating and worked my ARSE off for these exams!!

Cherry_Pie

Cherry_Pie wrote:

Yes I did! The examiner turned it up which made it worse!!! So the girl infront of me complained and basically nothing could be done! Im googling the Ed Dept now and getting numbers, Im going to ring when I get home from paper 2 tomorrow prob closed now! Its a disgrace!!!! Im soo angry! Im repeating and worked my ARSE off for these exams!!

Ok. PM me around the time you do it and both of us together wil make a stronger case.

Cherry_Pie

Ok, I'll Pm you the number later on!! Im going for a coffee before I get into Irish! Gah have to learn a few extra an triail quotes to pull my mark back up!! I was completely set up for a B before tape!!!

Just bumping this thread to see if anyone else has anything to say.

luckat

Maybe you could get all of the students who were there together, and get everyone to write a short polite letter each, photocopy them and keep the copies, and send them, registered, to the Department of Education - your teacher will tell you the correct part of the Department to send them to - explaining that the room was echoey and you couldn't hear well.

You might also ask that your exam papers be compared against your aural marks, so that they can get an idea of what level of students they're dealing with - that you're good students, in other words.

That would be alot of work though and I'm sure there's an easier solution. it would also be hard to convince my fellow classmates to make up these letters., and there was a few that found no problem with the room.

StupidLikeAFox

Deleted User wrote:

That would be alot of work though and I'm sure there's an easier solution.

Do ya want to get the marks or what?

it would also be hard to convince my fellow classmates to make up these letters., and there was a few that found no problem with the room.

Do they want to get the marks or what?

ColHol

ColHol wrote:

Do ya want to get the marks or what?

Do they want to get the marks or what?

They most definitely don't. I'm from Ballyfermot and trust they don't care what they get.

As far as I am concerned, yes I would gladly right a letter. But you misunderstood what I saying: It would be a lot of work to get everyone of the whole table-tennis hall to write a letter., not for me to.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote:

That would be alot of work though and I'm sure there's an easier solution. it would also be hard to convince my fellow classmates to make up these letters., and there was a few that found no problem with the room.

not compared to how much work you'd done so far to get yourself up to a good grade in Irish.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote:

not compared to how much work you'd done so far to get yourself up to a good grade in Irish.

Like I said above, I meant it would be alot of work for those people that don't really care if they want to complain, not for me.

well to be fair, it may seem like a lot of work, but so does everything at the start, begin as soon as possible, you wont need everybody, but the more the better.

To have been up to A2 standard for the mocks and then fail the aural in the Actual Exam is unfair, you need to do something, and everything!

Do everything that is suggested.

Shinny-dee

hey lads umm i dont think ur gonna get a lot of help from the dept it takes way too long t make those tapes an most exam centres didnt have any problems i know how you feel though i didnt feel we had enough time to write the answers i was goin for an A at least! i was goin for an A1 in home ec an the paper was really bad an vague so very annoyed with the exams people grrrr :mad: best of luck with ur campaign!!

CoffeeFreak

Let me know if you all send letters...I'd definitely do that too, but I doubt it's gonna get us anywhere. I'm more worried about the same thing happening in the French aural at the moment. :mad: