Syllabus for Leaving Cert Maths Higher Level 2012

Brokenghost

Hi Everyone - I'm having a bit of trouble finding out exactly what I'm going to be examined on in June! I have contacted the State Examinations Commission, The Department of Education and Project Maths - none of whom were able to help me.

I am registered to take the higher level maths exams. They are on the 8th and 11th of June (Paper 1 and Paper 2 respectively). The problem is that, due to the introduction of Project Maths, I am unsure whether I should be studying the Project Maths Syllabus or the standard Higher Level Syllabus.

I am hoping that there is someone out there who is taking the same exams and will be able to inform me what they have been told to study by their teachers. (I am 30 years old and taking the exams outside of the school environment).

The style and syllabus of Project Maths is completely different from the old style papers, so it has a huge impact on how I should be revising. Any help would be hugely appreciated as time is already running short.

Many thanks,

Sean

Spear

Try the leaving cert forum instead:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=107

MathsManiac

*Perhaps a mod should move this thread to a more suitable location*

Now to the substance:

Unless you are sitting the exam in one of the 24 pilot schools (unlikely), the examination this year is based on "Phase 1" of Project Maths. (There are three phases - phase 2 will be examined in 2013 and phase 3 in 2014.)

The new syllabus has 5 "strands" (areas of content). Phase 1 involves only strands 1 and 2 of the new syllabus. This affects Paper 2 only. Paper 1 will be just as it has been for the last 15 years or so. Paper 2 will be completely different.

To prepare for Paper 1, you can use existing past exam papers and older textbooks.

To prepare for Paper 2, you should refer to the sample paper issued by the SEC last September/October: http://www.examinations.ie/schools/Project_Math_Phase_1_P2_Higher_Level.pdf

You could also look at the exam paper that the pilot schools did last year: http://www.examinations.ie/archive/exampapers/2011/LC003ALP230EV.pdf

You could also look at the exam paper that the pilot schools did in 2010: http://www.examinations.ie/archive/exampapers/2010/LC003ALP230EV.pdf
In relation to this last one, you should note that the syllabus changed slightly after the pilot schools did their 2010 exam, so that there are some parts of questions on that paper that are not relevant to 2012: part (a) of question 2; parts (c) and (d) of question 6; part (c) of question 9A. (This information is taken from section 4 of this letter from the SEC)

If you need textbook material for paper 2, then you could look at some of the new textbooks for project maths, but be careful to confine yourself to the chapters that relate to strands 1 and 2. (The latest editions of these textbooks are not geared towards 2012 students, so they have new syllabus stuff for further strands by now.)

There's also a lot of material available on line. For example, check out the "student zone" here: http://www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_Assessment/Post-Primary_Education/Project_Maths/
and the student CD here: http://www.projectmaths.ie/

The complete syllabus document for the 2012 examination, with the relevant parts of the new syllabus and the old one all in one place, is here:
http://www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_Assessment/Post-Primary_Education/Project_Maths/Syllabuses_and_Assessment/LC_Maths_for_examination_in_2012.pdf

Good luck!