Sunday, April 8, 2012

Maths Leaving Certificate: The Exam & Format

By Owen McHugh


The Leaving Cert is the last exam given in the Irish school system for secondary pupils. These are the final exams given before college and is considered very difficult by nature. Most students get years of preparation for this examination, and this is normally known as the 'senior cycle'. The standard age of exam takers is between 17-19 years old.

The most common programme is the Established Leaving Certificate, that is a 2-year programme that covers many subjects. Subjects are usually studied at Higher or Ordinary level, which is equal to Honours or Pass levels. Some subjects, including Maths and Irish may be studied at Foundation level. Throughout the senior cycle, students usually study between 6 to seven subjects, Established Leaving Certificate students normally take a minimum of 5. Students should choose courses with respect to the minimum entry requirements of their desired colleges.

Some Universities require six subjects, including English, Irish and a final third language. Within these Programme's the maths leaving cert is considered to be one of the hardest, and is widely the most feared. In order for students to do well, they will need to study within the subjects provided for the exam within their level.

The higher level maths leaving cert exam consists of two 2 hour and 30 minute (150 minute) written papers There is a maximum of 100 points for higher level, 60 for ordinary level and no points for foundation level students.

Content: The type of content inside the Maths examination varies with respect to the student's level. Higher-level students and ordinary level students will have to study differently in order to be effectively prepared for the exam. Nevertheless the material can be listed under related, larger subject headings, these headings are:

* Arithmetic (ordinary levels only) * Algebra * Geometry * Trigonometry * Sequences and Series * Functions and also Calculus * Discrete Mathematics and Statistics

Higher Level Subjects * Further Calculus and Series * Further Probability as well as Statistics * Groups * Further Geometry

Ordinary Level Subjects * Further Geometry * Plane Vectors * Further Sequences as well as Series * Linear Programming

Foundation Level Topics * Number Systems * Arithmetic * Areas and Volumes * Algebra * Statistics as well as Probability * Trigonometry * Functions as well as Graphs * Geometry

The papers and grading schemes (higher level): Paper 1 contains eight questions, six of the best questions are marked. All questions might be answered, nevertheless the best 6 questions merely marked.

Paper 2 offers 7 questions and the best 5 are marked. Within the 2nd section (section B) you can find four questions, of which one has to be answered. Each question is work fifty marks evenly.

Right answers are given total marks, incorrect answers are divided into 2 groups 'slips' and 'blunders'. Small mathematical mistakes are 'slips' and that only drops a single mark, it is possible to get 9 out of 10 marks on a wrong answer this way. Blunders, nevertheless, are mathematic mistakes and lose 3 marks.




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