Is it true that you can pass anything with 38%?

Mackleton · 29-03-2007 6:04pm #1

So guys just wondering if anyone can clarify this:

My biology teacher told us today a rather startling fact. She said that when she was at a conference held by the guy who oversees the writing of the leaving cert biology paper, some teacher asked iits true that students can pass a subject with 38%. The guy said it was more than his job was worth to directly confirm this but that he inferred that the cao computer will automatically upgrade a 38% mark to a 40% pass. Is this true?

cson · 29-03-2007 6:31pm

I think its the case with Higher Maths, not sure with other subjects. Of course if you are scraping around that area any right examiner would look over your paper to see if they could add a few marks they missed/be more generous.

claire h · 29-03-2007 6:34pm

I don't think the CAO computer has anything to do with it.

AFAIK, if someone is borderline pass - 38 or 39% - the examiner will generally try to bump them up to a pass mark. But I am fairly sure it's not an official policy (well, obviously, as the pass mark is officially 40%) and that it's not guaranteed - it's more a case of someone going back over a paper and seeing if there's anything that the student could get an extra mark or two on, rather than an automatic upgrade to a pass at the CAO stage of things.

Mackleton · 29-03-2007 6:34pm

Thank God Im not in that boat meself but a girl in my class burst into tears today after getting 38% in pass maths, so for her this kind of computer upgrade clause could be a lifesaver

AdMMM · 29-03-2007 6:38pm

If someone is borderline pass then the examiner will either a) look for ways to bump up their mark to a pass or b) look for ways to take away marks feeling they were too generous in the first place.

Rozabeez · 30-03-2007 2:44pm

Mackleton wrote:

Thank God Im not in that boat meself but a girl in my class burst into tears today after getting 38% in pass maths, so for her this kind of computer upgrade clause could be a lifesaver

Drama queen tbh.

I got that and was satisfied with it, however working really hard on pass maths and dropping work for important subjects would have been ridiculous, soooo foundation ftw, teehee.

OctavarIan · 30-03-2007 3:39pm

OP, it is not true that you can pass anything with 38%, you need 40% to pass a subject.

Rozabeez wrote:

Drama queen tbh.

Who knows her parents could have promised her something really great if she did well or passed all her mock exams. That's not too unlikely.

eZe^ · 30-03-2007 5:47pm

Rozabeez wrote:

Drama queen tbh.

I got that and was satisfied with it, however working really hard on pass maths and dropping work for important subjects would have been ridiculous, soooo foundation ftw, teehee.

What if it scared her that she may not get into her preferred college course? Nothing dramatic about it tbh.

Mackleton · 30-03-2007 7:09pm

No guys, as far as I know she isnt counting it so she only needs to pass it but it kinda shocked her I think..

Rozabeez · 30-03-2007 9:09pm

OctavarIan wrote:

Who knows her parents could have promised her something really great if she did well or passed all her mock exams. That's not too unlikely.

Well then that brings us to the subject of materialistic parental "love" then doesn't it? Which this thread is not about.

Well if she got 38% and doesn't need it, then she can drag her work up to a pass or do well in foundation, all colleges accept foundation maths these days, I'm away some courses in particular don't but I still find that to be very dramatic.

Naikon · 30-03-2007 10:21pm

Well, If you drop ordinary maths choose carefully, I mean most Technical courses require O.level maths.
My First choice requires a C in pass maths for example.

Again If you dont need it for social science etc then you could get away with it as Arts for example has no maths requirment, but alot of courses still do.
A guy in my class is dropping O.level maths aswell cause he doesent really need it, same reason why I dropped Irish.

OctavarIan · 04-04-2007 2:57pm

Rozabeez wrote:

Well then that brings us to the subject of materialistic parental "love" then doesn't it?

Not really. If I was working in an office and was promised a pay rise if I increased profits by 5% I wouldn't call that materialistic employer "love". It's the same thing really.

Rozabeez wrote:

Which this thread is not about.

True.

04-04-2007 3:10pm

I really doubt you'll get an answer to that question Mackleton. If the people who mark the exams don't know, then how would anyone here know?

Plus if it was true, the CAO would be accused of grade inflation. I would really doubt it'd happen through a computer, but that the teachers marking would be more inclined to give a 40% then a 38%.

MathsManiac · 15-04-2007 11:14pm

Why assume all this cloak and dagger stuff? Just ask the SEC. (There's a contact form for enquiries at their website: www.examinations.ie, under "contact directory".

You might be pleasantly surprised by the reply.

EuropeanSon · 12-06-2010 3:14pm

My teachers in Maths, Accounting, Chemistry and Applied Maths all confirm this.

Making It Bad · 12-06-2010 4:12pm

EuropeanSon wrote: »

My teachers in Maths, Accounting, Chemistry and Applied Maths all confirm this.

Thread is from 2007.... :pac:

EuropeanSon · 12-06-2010 4:16pm

Making It Bad wrote: »

Thread is from 2007.... :pac:

Wasn't me who bumped it.
Edit: wow, it was. I don't know how I ended up in a 3 year old thread, i was sure when I clicked in it it was front page.

Mr Cawley · 12-06-2010 4:17pm

teacher on national radio said ''remeber it only 38%'' for pass maths.

it'd be a stupid thing to say on 2FM

EuropeanSon · 12-06-2010 4:20pm

Figured out how. I was reading the cheating thread from ages ago, I clicked out of it and somehow ended up on a page full of threads from 3 years ago.

DaveyDave · 12-06-2010 4:50pm

If 38% counts as a pass I'd be even more pissed about the multiple 37s I got on my mocks.

Seloth · 12-06-2010 4:57pm

Its on in required subjects such as Maths n Irish

spurious · 12-06-2010 4:57pm

The 38% thing is certainly the case at Junior Cert., where the idea is to try and maximise success levels. I haven't corrected Leaving but I was under the impression it wasn't done at Leaving, but maybe it is.

**Timbuk2** · 12-06-2010 4:59pm

I highly doubt it. In the LC, they don't round exams up. They often leave you only 0.25% away from the next highest grade. It would be mean of an examiner to fail you over such a small margin, but I think that's life.

I remember reading the LC forum last August/September when people were viewing their scripts, and some of them were only half a percent away from the next grade. The only person I can remember is theowen, I think he got 79.75% (or something similar) and was left on a B2 - I can't remember the subject, but I think it was Biology or Chemistry (I hope he doesn't mind me posting that!).

LiNgWiStIkZ · 12-06-2010 5:01pm

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I highly doubt it. In the LC, they don't round exams up. They often leave you only 0.25% away from the next highest grade. It would be mean of an examiner to fail you over such a small margin, but I think that's life.

I remember reading the LC forum last August/September when people were viewing their scripts, and some of them were only half a percent away from the next grade. The only person I can remember is theowen, I think he got 79.75% (or something similar) and was left on a B2 - I can't remember the subject, but I think it was Biology or Chemistry (I hope he doesn't mind me posting that!).

It happens, but some examiners do try and bump you up. That's what the VP told us anyway!

DaveyDave · 12-06-2010 5:06pm

They round up on the Junior? Hmm, makes me wonder what I got in Higher French then. E is a bit vague, there's a reason we use numbers. It was the only exam I failed on the JC too.

Conor108 · 12-06-2010 5:14pm

40% in HL Applied Maths it is so

PLEASE GOD

randylonghorn · 12-06-2010 6:16pm

EuropeanSon wrote: »

Wasn't me who bumped it.
Edit: wow, it was. I don't know how I ended up in a 3 year old thread, i was sure when I clicked in it it was front page.

It was, the previous poster deleted their post! ;0

Killio9 · 12-06-2010 8:52pm

i heard that if you get 89.5% or somethin that its not an a1 cos they dont mark it up or down? is that true anyone know?

has nothing really to do with this thread but anyway:p

EuropeanSon · 12-06-2010 8:55pm

Killio9 wrote: »

i heard that if you get 89.5% or somethin that its not an a1 cos they dont mark it up or down? is that true anyone know?

has nothing really to do with this thread but anyway:p

True. 89.5% is between 85-90%, so it's an A2. That's how it goes.

ciano1 · 12-06-2010 9:12pm

Well I've always heard it was 38% and the guy on 2fm said so too.

Whether or not it means anything but this online encyclopedia says it's 38% too http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Leaving-Certificate

fauxshow · 12-06-2010 10:27pm

They don't mark up with a lot of very specifically marked subjects like sciences, maths etc because there's not much subjectivity so usually if you got 89.5% you didn't deserve the 90 or whatever. English is a lot vaguer and more subjective and I think they generally try to not leave students hanging.

Whatever the subject, it seems that 38% is a D3 for both the JC and the LC... I guess this is just to lower the national failure rate and make sure students meet matriculation requirements. The rounding up doesn't necessarily apply for every grade, just the pass/fail difference

Is it true that you can pass anything with 38%?

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