2007 harder then previous years?

Feddd

Every post mortem thread I see, people seem to be saying that each paper is far more challanging and tougher then in years gone by for each subject.

I've only done 3 subjects myself and found that it applied to all 3. Maths paper 1 had some oddities in it(No general proofs, tough sequences and series, logs scattered around the place) and paper 2 was a bit odd aswell. A bit harder overall then previous years.
Then I had tech drawing which is the type of subject that is the same year in year out pretty much yet this year most questions had some little nag to them forcing students to think inside the box.
Then physics today, well, a post mortem thread 13 pages long and counting means people had problems.

From what I have heard, accounting, home ec and history were pretty difficult aswell.

Most people doing LC did their JC in 2004 so maybe its just payback for the easier JC we had back then.

Now, this isn't a whine fest or anything. I am going for A1s in the 3 subjects I mentioned above and have worked very hard and hopfully scraped them, but what do ye all think? Harder LC then years before?

Enemy Of Fate

Eh?I found EVERY exam bar History to be easier than last year......and the only reason Histroy wasn't easier than last year cause it was almost exactly the same ****ing paper as last year.Seriously every single exam....twas great!

Lets just hope this trend continues until Wednesday with Economics....although last years economics paper was easy, so ours will probably be more difficult.Still though a more difficult economics exam just means they actually require work for a change....Damn economics is easy.

Eddie Ere

Undecided myself on this one.

With Maths, Irish and Biology (and a small bit of accouning) being a doddle, I found my honours subjects very difficult; Geography, English, Business and Religion to come. I don't mean difficult course material wise, but more so time wise.

I really feel as though I will not get the grade I deserve in my honours subjects due to time constraints, but on the other hand I feel I will perform exceptionally well on my pass subjects due to too much time being given.

The irony is hitting me hard in the face and I don't like it!

tolosenc

Yeah, I wouldn't have said that at all. They were mostly really nice papers, and people have commented on how much easier they have been than the past papers.

cocoa

No, I don't really think the LC is harder overall this year. The only paper I haven't liked to date is the physics paper and that said, having looked over it, although not nice, it was still fair enough. All the other papers I felt were perfectly fair. (obviously, just the papers I did: maths, irish, english, german)

Assez Bien

Didn't really find it much harder compared to previous years but wasn't too gone on the business paper, short Q's were handier but long questions were a bit of a b***h.

French was way easier than last year, thank jesus!

Thought Irish (HL) was a bit trickier than other years....just the phrasing of the questions was tougher than other years.

Maths was so mush easier than last year, it was so sweet took me all of an hr 2 do the paper!!!

Overall think it was easier than last year like the good outweigh the bad a lot......we'll just see what chemistry is like now 2morro!

Feddd

Ah, well I was just going by my own 3 and what people have been telling me but maybe my friends are just morons.

cson

Its what you make of it yourself, you study the stuff that comes up its easy you don't then, well its not is it?

fuinneamh

I don't know about being harder than other years, the parts i've had difficulties in the differant exams is down to me not preparing properly. Very fair if you've done the work. Even if they are harder it hink it is the right way to go. Making the standard higher is a good thing.

Assez Bien

Well no matter what comes up ppl are still gonna b***h n moan about it, any excuse!!

Corruptedmorals

Yeah I think they have been, for the most part, easier, and I have finished..so all 7 to judge by.

English- Easier.
Irish (H) Paper 1-harder, Paper 2-easier. Tape- samey same
Maths (O) Eh, grand. Same difference I think.
French- Much easier! Tape as well
History- Only 2006 to judge by. Fairly the same for my topics really
Geography- again, only 2006. MUCH HARDER But still very decent. Mean trick to switch the physical topics around, lucky I still remebered mining from 4 years ago!
Biology- Short questions were harder, long questions were easier.

JC 2K3

No.

I presume people say this every year.

Nehpets

Noone here sat the leaving last year or for previous years

Well I don't think anyone here is repeating but maybe I am wrong

cson

If I'm being honest about the whole thing, I think the exams are getting easier.

Assez Bien

Well i think i can speak for all when i say we were comparing it to exam papers from previous years.:)

Enemy Of Fate

JC 2K3 wrote:

No.

I presume people say this every year.

I doubt it.You really can't argue that some of exams were much easier than previous years (ie Maths paper 1, german listening etc).

SamHamilton

Maybe we're just prepared by the time we sit in front of our paper. When doing past exam papers, we're not fully prepared and thus they may seem harder when they're not.

It doesn't matter whether the papers are easier or not because every year there will be approximately the same number of As, Bs etc.
If a paper is seen as being easy, the marking will be harder.
I heard that in last years JC there were many students who got As in higher level maths but the examinations boards made the marking harder so there wouldn't be as many As!:eek:

waheyyy

SamHamilton wrote:

I heard that in last years JC there were many students who got As in higher level maths but the examinations boards made the marking harder so there wouldn't be as many As!:eek:

just wonderin, but where'd you hear that from??? i'd say it's true like, that paper was piss easy!!

md99

I honestly think the standard...at least of questioning...is going up...

In my experience:

English was the usual standard
OL Irish was harder than usual
HL Maths was definitely easier for the majority, without doubt easier than the 06 paper...although I can't speak for those aiming for As, as I don't do many of the part (c) (ii)'s etc...
Home Ec - much easier in parts, a little too hard/long in one section (Social Studies)
French - easier listening, reading comprehension questions slightly harder...
Accounting - definitely harder than usual, with the exception of Incomplete Records which was much easier and shorter than usual..

JC 2K3

Enemy Of Fate wrote:

I doubt it.You really can't argue that some of exams were much easier than previous years (ie Maths paper 1, german listening etc).

My point was every year a lot of people doing the LC probably consider what they did to be HARDER.

And I do HL Maths and don't do German, so....

SamHamilton

just wonderin, but where'd you hear that from??? i'd say it's true like, that paper was piss easy!!

Brendan Guildea said it at a two-day maths preparation thingy.

HL Maths was definitely easier for the majority, without doubt easier than the 06 paper...although I can't speak for those aiming for As, as I don't do many of the part (c) (ii)'s etc...

I don't think Maths is harder or easier but I think it's different. They're putting a huge emphasis on the theory. So you won't get an A if you're a rote-learner. You have to understand the underlying principles. I think that's going to be huge for the coming years.

naus

Whilst Maths may have been a bit easier than last year-particularly Paper 2, considering people had a heads up with P2 Q7 from last year, the overall trend has been for the papers to be much more difficult. If you look back as far as 94 in Maths you'll see that whilst the calculations may have taken longer to get out there was almost no thought or understanding required whatsoever. The questions were so repetitive!

History was more difficult than last year-fair enough as last year was the first year of the new course. But even taking into account that topics were repeated, awkward enough questions were posed...you probably wouldn't have been able to learn off an essay and regurgitate it verbatim.

There is no doubt about it, Physics this year was probably the most difficult year so far. Teachers thought it was designed to catch people out. Every question had something either off the wall or worse very ambiguously phrased, which is a disaster to deal with in an exam and when specifics are called.

What I think makes no sense is that these subjects have plummeted in popularity, obviously because people are getting (the probably correct) impression that other subjects offer higher results for far less work and are less likely to throw up nasty papers. It is ridiculous for people to complain of falling standards in Maths and the Sciences, when the real problem is that very few people take Honours Maths or the more analytical Sciences e.g Chemistry and Physics, not that the people in these subjects do not know their stuff and don't deserve high grades. Surely if standards need to be raised in the Sciences or History, then other subjects should also be made comparitively more difficult to stop the system of choosing an "easy" A?

By the way, I do not say this as someone particularly embittered by these exams, indeed I think I've done quite well. But anyone who says that standards have fallen in these subkects should look back at older papers, which required little thought or flair for the subject to gain a high mark.

Enemy Of Fate

One set of exams that have definitely been getting much harder are the economics exams.The economics exams from the 90's are LAUGHABLE!!!LAUGHABLE I SAY!!!I'd guess they started to get ''difficult'' after the 2000 exam.....but even nowadays they're still incredibly easy (compared to many other exams).

Gangsta

I'm a repeat so I suppose I can give my two cents on what I've done so far:

Maths: overall, definately easier (especially paper2)
Biology: easy both years
Business: only took it up this year but easy enough I thought
Physics: Way harder than last year!

jaydigity

This varies, but in my experience the leaving cert was not harder, in general than 2006.
However,the whole "declining standards" argument may have some truth to it. The history course has gotten harder, it used to be pisseasy. However, chemistry and biology have had their courses shortened and made easier,so these subjects must now be easier exams.
Here's my opinion on 2007 exams I've done

English:No real difference, v straight forward paper
Irish:Maybe a little easier/the same standard as 2006
French:The easiest paper since the new course started (1997). Comprehension were, erm, comprehendable, and nice titles4 compositions.
Maths: pfft, it's OL it can't be hard!
Biology:Very few tricky questions in section c, but I really think the short questions were nasty,confusing and the diagrams were utter rubbish!Still though, it may balance itself out
History:I don't think this was a harder paper, per se. Questions quite straight forward, but they certainly did try to catch people out by putting up similar q's to 2006 and there was WAY too much emphasis on personalities, which is meant to be a hallmark of orsinary level!

genericgoon

HL maths was easier this year but it was still a good challenge.HL Irish was bout the same as last year, HL so was english. French was a fair bit easier. geography was a step up in hardness from the piss easy test of last year, biology was about the same, although the shorter questions were harder, but the experiments were easier. Phys/chem was the same as usual.

Haven't a Clue

All the stuff, bar History, was easier this year. Irish and French were noticeably easier, Business doesn't really change in difficulty, English had a class paper 2. I wouldn't like to judge the ordinary subjects cause maths was pretty handy anyway.

Mushy

I think its tough to compare, because you dont do the past papers under exam pressure(by that, I mean if you get something wrong that your worried bout losing easy marks). It also depends on the subject.

Personally, dont know how this happened, but I did find Maths easier this year...and I'm one just hoping for an honour, not a high-achiever in it at all. Same in most things. History can be deemed as tough, as it was quite similar to last year, but I didnt find it that way, found it easy enough. Thought Accounting was harder than other years...but thats just my opinion. In comparison, we didnt do last years or other years under exam pressure, so its not the best to compare.

Corruptedmorals

jaydigity wrote:

The history course has gotten harder, it used to be pisseasy.

Are you judging by 2006..or the old course?

nedward

I'm repeatin, thought Chemistry and French were easier than last year. But Physics and Geography were harder. I didn't do Business last year but I thought this year's was harder all the same.

jaydigity

Corruptedmorals wrote:

Are you judging by 2006..or the old course?

Old course. Questions were ridiculously vague.Though, admittedly, date perameters were a little wider.Old syllabus didn't require any kind of analysis, just a chance to vomit out a learned essay