Pass rate for maths

PurvesGrundy

I got a total of 300 and think I failed maths. The grade I got was an E but I have since been told that the pass rate is 38%, which I'm hoping lies under the grade I recieved.

Can anybody confirm if this is correct?

Ficheall

Did you do Maths through Irish?

PurvesGrundy

Ficheall wrote: »

Did you do Maths through Irish?

Nope.

Ficheall

Well, an E is a fail..

View the paper and decide if it's worth getting it rechecked..

PurvesGrundy

Ficheall wrote: »

Well, an E is a fail..

View the paper and decide if it's worth getting it rechecked..

I could've sworn I heard that 38 or 39 was the pass rate and was really hoping I was right. I'm really devastated to be honest.

I might just do that (get it re-checked) as during the exam I was unfortunate enough to have a calculator that wouldn't do percentages the way I knew. I then got a loan of another one from the person behind me and it was the same thing again. I doubt I have any comeback at this stage though.

Ficheall

Some colleges might offer a sort of matriculation exam for maths, depending on what course you're looking to do. I'd suggest looking into it.

PurvesGrundy

Right, thanks.

spurious

If you got E it's a fail, if you got 38 when they were totting the marks they would have gone back and tried to give you the one or two to give you a D.

Worth checking I suppose.

MathsManiac

As has been pointed out many times in this forum, the lower boundary mark for a D3 is 38% in all subjects. This has nothing to do with what the individual examiner does or doesn't do when marking your script; they do their work on the basis of a 40% pass mark.

In the case of mathematics, which is marked out of 600, this means that if the sum of your paper 1 mark and your paper 2 mark is 228, the computer spits out a D3, while if it's 227, it spits out an E.

If you got an E today, it means your mark was less than 228. When you view your script and are trying to decide how likely an upgrade is, this is the target mark to bear in mind.

christina_x

Your probably mixing it up with the fact that they cant give you a 39, its either a 38 or a 40. if you get a 39 they've to go back through the paper and see where they can either give you marks or take them from you... as far as i know!

redout

So is the pass mark 40% or 38% as 228 is equal to 38% and a D3 is a pass is it not ?

MathsManiac

The examiners work on the basis that 40% is the D3 boundary. The computer in Athlone that converts your mark into a grade works on the basis that 38% is the boundary.

(This isn't in the published documents for candidates, but it's not a secret either. The SEC will confirm it if you're corresponding with them about an appeal, as I have seen such correspondence in the past when I was a teacher. Anyway, they couldn't keep it a secret, since it becomes obvious from people viewing their scripts.)

redout

MathsManiac wrote: »

The examiners work on the basis that 40% is the D3 boundary. The computer in Athlone that converts your mark into a grade works on the basis that 38% is the boundary.

(This isn't in the published documents for candidates, but it's not a secret either. The SEC will confirm it if you're corresponding with them about an appeal, as I have seen such correspondence in the past when I was a teacher. Anyway, they couldn't keep it a secret, since it becomes obvious from people viewing their scripts.)

Ok but is it what the computer spits out that is what is the important grade ? So if a person scored 38% the computer is giving them a D3 and thus a pass on their results sheet.

MathsManiac

redout wrote: »

Ok but is it what the computer spits out that is what is the important grade ? So if a person scored 38% the computer is giving them a D3 and thus a pass on their results sheet.

Correct.

(I'm ignoring the side-issue that officially there's no such thing as a fail anyway - there are simply grades that are awarded. The perception that an E is a fail arises from the fact that most third level institutions don't accord much respect to E grades, for no particular reason that I can see.)

The pass rate is 38% so they would've given you a D3.

Unfortunately for you, the E you recieved is a fail.