This year the Leaving Cert results present different trends: higher level students did well but there is concern about standards at ordinary level in some subjects, writes Áine Kerr
The honours level Leaving Certificate subjects tell a story of improved grades and effective new syllabi, but ordinary level grades will pose further questions for science and maths observers.
The dispirited maths and science subjects have reappeared in the high failure stakes amid improvements in subjects such as history and geography which now contain practical projects accounting for significant marks.
Despite governmental emphasis on the need to equip students with the relevant science and mathematical skills for its drive to become one of the leading knowledge-based economies in the world, students are continuing to stumble at the hurdles of these subjects.
Students hoping to acquire some easy points through religious education and who channelled their main study time to the core subjects, will be surprised today to note the high failure rates at ordinary level and the decreasing number of honours awarded at honours level.
While the Leaving Certificate canvass of passes, honours and failures, tells varying stories, it is of relief to educational experts to see the newly revised subjects of history and geography climbing back up the honours list.
In a year which has few new surprises on last year, this is how the subjects faired:
MATHS
Despite the controversy surrounding paper two of the honours maths exam, which teachers, parents and students alike judged as an attempt to catch out those relying on grind-school notes, the percentage of students acquiring honours grades increased significantly.
This follows a deluge of complaints from opposition parties and teacher unions in the aftermath of the exam, all of whom called for a review of the Leaving Certificate maths paper.
Maths at honours level is now one of the easiest subjects to obtain an honour in, with 82 per cent of the 9,018 students who sat the paper achieving an honour this year, compared to 78 per cent last year.
However, of continued concern is the high failure rate in Maths at ordinary level.
This year, about 35,112 students sat the ordinary level paper, equating to 70 per cent of all Leaving Certificate students examined in maths.
A 12 per cent failure rate represents 4,213 students failing a subject in which a pass is required for entry to a third level course. Students who failed maths and had hoped to access computer, engineering and technology courses will today find themselves in the position of reconsidering a repeat of the exam.
SCIENCE
Although, fewer students failed Classical Studies this year, the subject remains the toughest subject on the Leaving Certificate exam syllabus, followed closely by physics and chemistry. The related areas of chemistry, biology and physics continue to incur failure rates of between nine per cent and 16 per cent, despite the government's emphasis on creating a knowledge-based economy and the work of numerous national organisations in promoting science.
While take-up of the science subjects such as physics and chemistry hovers around the lowly 6,000 mark, the failure rates at ordinary level will do little to attract students who will look to other more passable subjects such as music, art and economics.
Any student looking to chemistry, physics and biology, which award a small percentage of A grades, will avoid the subject areas in an effort to maximise points.
RELIGION
Of particular surprise is the emergence of religious education into the ordinary level high failure rate category and its decline as a subject which draws a high number of honours at honours level.
First examined in 2005, the subject received a high number of grades, with 20 per cent of the marks awarded for the student's journal, which is submitted before the exam.
This year, religious education has emerged as the third toughest subject to pass at ordinary level.
No student achieved an A1 at ordinary level, with the highest percentage of students receiving a D3 grade. Added to this, its honours rate at honours level has decreased from 94 per cent to 74 per cent in the space of one year.
IRISH
At first glance, the high honours rate for Irish at 85 per cent may cause teachers and observers to have renewed faith in the language and its appeal among young people.
However, only 12,948 students actually take the honours level paper, which equates to less than a third of students, with a 72 to 28 male to female take up.
This compares to the ordinary level paper which attracts 26,437 students and a failure rate of six per cent.
Just over four per cent of students achieved an A1 or A2, with over 30 per cent receiving some form of a B grade and almost 40 per cent of those taking the exam getting a C grade.
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
Subjects such as history and geography, which were previously thought to be outdated and cumbersome, have been treated to a recent a makeover. The new-style paper was examined for the first time this year. It included a practical component worth 20 per cent of the total marks.
For two subjects previously failing to attract a high uptake, the results have significantly improved this year and will probably do much to ignite student interest.
Some 79 per cent of the 20,516 students who sat the honours level paper received an honour, compared to 74 per cent last year.
Following the dispersal of the 80-year-old history curriculum, 75 per cent of students at honours levels were awarded an honour, compared to 69 per cent last year.