The number of students planning to sit higher level mathematics in this week's Leaving Cert exams is up 13 per cent to a new record tally due to the influence of bonus points for the higher papers.
One in three students have entered to sit higher level maths compared to less than one in five just four years ago.
With more focus on maths than in previous years, the State Examinations Commission has put extra resources into making sure there is no repeat of last year's error on one of the higher level maths papers.
In advance of this week’s exams, it said that the level of error in last year’s papers was “unacceptably high” and it had since introduced “a significant quality assurance measure . . . to minimize the risk of error”.
While it was “not possible to guarantee that examinations in the future will be completely error free,” the commission said all Leaving Cert papers have been “subjected to scrutiny at an advanced stage of preparation by a subject expert who has not been involved in generating the paper.
“Senior management has also adopted a more strategic approach to anticipating and assessing the impact of retirements and other staff changes including assessing the risks associated with the loss of subject-specific examination expertise.”
In the case of maths, additional contract staff have been employed to assist in the preparation of examination papers for the continued rollout of Project Maths in the Leaving Cert and the Junior Cert.
Ill-equipped
Concerns that school-leavers were ill-equipped for further studies or careers in science, engineering and technology led to the introduction in 2012 of 25 bonus points for those who achieved at least a grade D in honours maths.
Since then, the number of students sitting the higher level examination has risen steadily from 8,235 in 2011 to 13,014 last year.
This year 17,065 students have signalled their intention to sit the higher paper, although typically about 2,000 of those will opt to drop down to the ordinary level paper on the day.
Almost 119,000 students will be starting state examinations this week, 54,933 in the Leaving Cert, 3,042 in the final year of Leaving Cert Applied and 60,698 in the Junior Cert. The examinations will run from Wednesday to June 20th.
Overall cost
As in previous years, there is a massive logistical operation required to get the papers to the 4,962 exam centres securely and on time.
The overall cost of the exams last year was €62 million, of which €8.8 million was collected in fees.
Arrangements stretch beyond Irish shores, with plans in place for about 50 students at an international school in Libya to sit their papers in Malta this year due to political unrest in the region.
