LEAVING CERT CONSTRUCTION STUDIES:SITE SAFETY, planning permission and the environmental impact of housing were among current topics on yesterday's papers, despite the age of the syllabus.
“We’ve been waiting 14 years for a new syllabus.” said ASTI subject representative David Madden. “The one we have at the moment is 25 years old . . . Whoever set the paper should be commended. It’s not easy to examine such an old exam in a topical manner.”
Mr Madden praised the choice at the higher level. “There was something there for everyone,” he said. A question on site safety focused in on younger workers who are statistically more prone to accidents, while a question about double-glazing required students to calculate the cost of heat loss through different types of windows.
The first question on the higher level paper asking students to draw a fireplace might have thrown some, Mr Madden said.
With just over 9,000 students studying the subject, construction studies has a reasonably low failure rate. Students complete a practical and a project during the year, which account for 40 per cent of marks at higher level and 50 per cent at ordinary level.
At ordinary level, a “good spread of questions” gave students options.
