THE STATE Examinations Commission (SEC) last night issued a lengthy statement detailing the marking scheme for the new Project Maths course.

This followed claims that examiners were “pressurised” to deliver better grades for the course. Elements of the new approach were examined for the first time by all Leaving Cert students this year.

The following is an edited version of the SEC statement:

“Standards are established for new syllabuses in Ireland in advance of examining. The approach taken is sometimes described as a ‘college of professionals’ approach . . . A group of people who are deemed to have an expert knowledge of what the students in the target audience ought to be able to achieve . . . reach a consensus regarding the content standards of the syllabus. This is achieved through the committees in the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, representative of teachers and other subject experts including third level and industry. Following this process both the syllabus content and the assessment specifications are approved by the Department of Education and Skills.

“These content standards are then put into effect as a set of performance standards by the SEC, through the preparation of sample papers and subsequent examinations. The chief examiner for each examination takes . . . steps to ensure the examination paper, the marking scheme and its application combine to ensure that these performance standards are appropriately set and maintained.

“It is noted that grade patterns may change on the introduction of a new or revised syllabus from those achieved by previous cohorts in situations where the skills set and competencies to be achieved by candidates, rather than just subject content, are different from before, or where there is a change in size or composition of the cohort presenting for examination. Both of these apply in the case of the 2012 Leaving Certificate Mathematics examinations.

“A draft marking scheme is developed in conjunction with the examination paper and further refined prior to the marking process, when the senior examining team pre-test the draft scheme against candidates’ scripts selected for standardising purposes. The draft marking scheme is also considered in the light of commentary and correspondence from teachers, professional bodies and other interested parties.

“However, it is not until the draft marking scheme is applied by each examiner to a random sample of scripts that the effectiveness of the scheme in setting and maintaining standards is really fully tested. Random sampling . . . serves to assist in the appropriate adjustment, clarification and refinement of the marking scheme . . . In most instances, marking schemes are finalised after the random sampling process. However, changes may, on occasion, also occur at a later stage. All amendments to the marking scheme must be applied to the work of all candidates.”