Back to the never-ending saga of script viewing. The Department of Education allows Leaving Certificate students to view their marked scripts in all subjects. Viewing sessions are being held in schools tomorrow and Saturday.
Yesterday, our College 2000 helpline received a query from a student who was wondering about the possibility of bringing a laptop computer, a calculator and a dictaphone into the viewing session.
A spokesman for the Department of Education and Science said the objective of the exercise was to give every candidate the opportunity to see his or her work. The integrity and orderly conduct of the process must be safeguarded and the type of atmosphere that should prevail was that of a library rather than an exam hall.
So it was up to the discretion of the superintendent, who is a departmental appointee, to make the decision as to whether laptops, calculators and dictaphones would disturb the desired "library atmosphere".
The spokesman for the Department of Education also said there could be only one other person in the viewing session with the exam candidate at any one time. This meant that a superintendent might allow a student to bring in a series of teachers sequentially. However, again, it was up to the individual superintendent. If he or she felt this would cause too much disruption, it might not be allowed.
Perhaps the Department might consider setting down some more specific guidelines, so that next year the same rules would apply to everyone during the viewing sessions.
Our helpline counsellors would like to remind exam candidates that teachers are not under any obligation to accompany their past-pupils into the viewing sessions. It is a favour rather than a duty.
You can view only your written scripts, not your practical work, aurals or orals. However, if you request a re-check, all components of the exam will be re-marked, not just the written work.
The closing date for re-check requests is next Wednesday, September 6th. So schools must post applications on Tuesday.. This means you must arrange to pay the fee (£25 per subject) and return the form to the school on Monday or early on Tuesday.. The results of re-checks will be available in early October. The fee will be refunded if you are upgraded.
Last year, there were 7,590 recheck requests and 1,413 upgrades. There were three downgrades. A result may be downgraded where the chief examiner decides that a "manifestly unjust grade" was awarded originally.
It is not necessary to view your papers in order to request a re-check.
Subject requirements
The helpline has been receiving queries from students who got the points for a course but didn't get an offer because they didn't have the essential subject requirements.
These requirements can vary from college to college for similar courses. One candidate who wasn't offered his course of choice in Waterford IT was upset by the unfairness of this situation.
He had applied for WD028, a B.Sc in applied computing, in Waterford IT. He got 330 points, with a D2 in higher-level maths. The maths specification is an ordinary-level B3 or a C3 at higher level.
As he points out, a D2 at higher level is worth 50 points. A B1 at ordinary-level is worth 45 points, a B2 is worth 40 points and a B3 (still eligible for the course) equates to 35 points. "By the national system of grading, I have a higher grade than the minimum requirement, yet I have been deemed ineligible," he says.
Usually colleges equate a B3 at ordinary level with a D3 at higher level. The D3 is worth 45 points. The admissions office at Waterford IT tells us that it sets the requirements in line with the difficulty of the course. This particular requirement has been queried in the past and retained, so no change is likely.
If, however, this applicant had wanted a place in DCU's B.Sc in computer applications, the minimum requirements were an ordinary-level C3 or a higher-level D3 in maths, while that college's B.Sc in airgeadas/riomhaireacht/ fiontraiocht has a minimum maths requirement of an ordinary-level B3 or a higher-level D3.
The Commission on the Points System has recommended that "as far as possible, institutions should endeavour to ensure that basic entry requirements across the third-level sector are similar". It also recommended that special subject requirements for similar courses should not differ to any great extent. The recommendations and final report of the commission were published in November last year but they have yet to be implemented.
Nursing
The second round of offers will be made in tandem with CAO offers. This year, the College 2000 helpline has noticed a definite silence when it comes to nursing application queries. For the past few years, the helpline had received numerous complaints and queries about the application process.
Remember there is still time to apply for supplementary competition for vacant places in psychiatric and mental handicap nurse-education programmes. The closing date for applications is next Monday at 4 p.m. To obtain an application form, a list of schools in which vacancies exist and an information booklet, telephone 1 890 20 1065. Completed forms should be returned to the Nursing Careers Centre (supplementary competition), PO Box 7887, Dublin 2. Useful website: www.nursingboard.ie
Vacant CAO places
There are now vacancies on 29 degree and 63 certificate/diploma programmes. College 2000 published the list of courses with vacant places on Tuesday this week. Carlow IT has notified the CAO of further vacancies: CW100 international business with French (degree); CW101 international business with German (degree); CW005 mechanical engineering; CW006 electronic engineering; CW007 civil engineering; CW008 construction studies; CW022 science; CW023 accounting and information systems; CW024 electronics and computer technology; CW025 electronics and communication systems. Remember you must fulfil the minimum educational requirements to be eligible to apply for a place.
The CAO website carries a list of courses with vacant places (www.cao.ie).