College Choice/Briam Mooney: Considering a recheck?If you think that a particular grade in any of your Leaving Cert subjects is not a fair reflection of your work, you may apply to the State Examinations Commission to view the script at your school on either Friday, August 31st, or Saturday, September 1st.
This free service offers you the opportunity to see how the marking scheme has been applied to your work and will help you to decide whether to appeal a result.
With the exception of external candidates (those who studied for the exam outside a standard second-level school, ie a grind school or on their own), all applications to view papers should be made through your own school. The closing date for receipt of completed application forms in schools is next Tuesday, August 21st, the day after the CAO first-round offers are made.
What to do if you are an external candidate?
External candidates should follow the instructions that accompany their provisional statement of results.
Can I study the marking scheme?
You can access the marking scheme on the SEC website at www.examinations.ie and your school will also have copies of the marking schemes available during the review days.
When you are viewing your script, along with your nominated other person, who may be a parent or a teacher, you can compare your script against the marking scheme to ascertain whether a recheck request might be appropriate. You are entitled to review as many subjects as you want to, at no cost. It is strictly forbidden to nominate someone to view a paper on your behalf.
What to do if you are unhappy with an individual grade or grades?
Where this occurs, following a viewing of a paper or not, students should consult the Leaving Cert results appeal process booklet, which accompanies their statement of provisional results.
You should adhere to the instructions to ensure that you lodge valid requests for viewing marked scripts and appealing results. This information is also available in the candidates section on www.examinations.ie
School-based candidates who wish to appeal should do so through their school. External candidates should follow the instructions that accompany their provisional statement of results.
The deadline
All appeal applications must be with the SEC by 5.30pm on Wednesday, September 5th. The fee per standard subject, refundable in the case of a successful appeal, is €37. The fees are payable by bank giro form provided by the SEC, through any bank or by credit card over the internet.
The SEC says many candidates return their appeal form without proof of payment; either the stamped personalised bank giro, if paid at the bank, or the internet confirmation record if paid online by credit card.
Such incomplete applications can invalidate the appeal request. If the recheck leads to a higher grade, the payment will be refunded. In 2006, 5,390 candidates made applications for appeals against 9,442 grades leading to 2,004 upgrades, a success rate of over 20 per cent.
What happens if you get an upgrade?
Five additional CAO points for each grade are awarded. These will be communicated immediately to the CAO. If the new points total is within the range of scores for a CAO choice, higher than the one initially offered, the student will normally be immediately offered that place.
Given that six weeks of term time will have elapsed, it is up to the student to (a) continue with their current course, (b), start the new course immediately or (c), accept the new offer and defer it until September 2008.
Some options if you failed to achieve your desired grade in maths.
By far the highest numbers of disappointed students are those - more than 4,700 - who failed maths. A number of colleges have procedures in place to assist such students. For those who failed ordinary level maths, Dublin Business School in Portobello offers a number of level 8 BA honours degrees in arts, film, literature and drama, media and and cultural studies, journalism, and an LLB in Law and at level 6/7 in film and media, communications and multimedia in cultural studies.
At the other end of the spectrum are students who took higher-level maths, with a view to taking a level 8 degree in engineering in NUI Galway and NUI Maynooth, and failed to secure a minimum of a C3.
These students can take an exam in maths, based on the higher-level Leaving Certificate course, being offered through these two colleges. In Maynooth's case, this will take place on Friday, August 24th.
Details of examination and sample papers are available at www.nuim.ie; NUIM is holding its examination next Wednesday August 22nd, with applications closing tomorrow.
How can I get results if I am out of the country?
Results can be accessed online, by using an exam number and the unique personal number given to students through their schools, on www.examinations.ie
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