Carl O'Brien: How will ‘difficult' exams be graded over the coming weeks?
It's been another milestone day for Leaving Certs: taking on two of biggest exams, maths paper two and Irish paper one. Whether students came out smiling or just relieved to be finished, they can be proud of how far they have come. Students aren't just surviving these exams, they're growing through them.
The reaction to maths, in particular, has been mixed and we've received queries from some parents whose children are worried about passing the paper or want to know how they are likely to be graded.
We've a short explainer below which should demystify the process - and it should hopefully give a little boost to worried students.
Who marks the exams?
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The exams are marked by a team of more than 4,000 examiners, typically experienced teachers, who work under the overall direction of a chief examiner for each subject. Examiners normally mark scripts from a number of schools and do not know either the region or the schools from which the papers they mark are drawn.
How does the marking process work?
The marking process for each subject and level is typically overseen by a team consisting of the chief examiner, a chief advising examiner and a number of advising examiners, who monitor and advise the examiners.
The chief examiner and the advisory team discuss, test and adjust a draft marking scheme. This takes place at a 'pre conference' that normally lasts two days and takes place before the main marking conference for the full examining team.
All examiners attend this online training conference before marking. They then begin marking by selecting a random sample of scripts and applying the draft marking scheme to this sample.
Feedback from the examiners, along with data from the marking of this random sample, is analysed by the chief examiner and senior advisory team.
A minimum of 5 per cent of scripts marked by each examiner is monitored during the course of the marking.
How are they graded?
The marking scheme is adjusted to help achieve a 'bell curve' which aims to ensure a similar proportion of students from year to year achieve the same proportion of H1s, H2s and H3s, etc, across individual subjects. It might sound unfair, but it is aimed at ensuring standards are maintained each year.
If it has been a particularly hard exam where many struggled, the marking scheme may be adjusted to be more generous to the questions where students generally performed better; equally, if it has been a relatively easy exam, the marking scheme will be adjusted to be less generous to the questions where students performed well.
How will they be graded this year?
Grades have been artificially kept at a high level – 7 per cent higher, on average, than pre-Covid results – through what authorities call a 'postmarking adjustment' since 2021.
Very simply, exam papers are marked as normal and then, when the process is complete, a weighting of marks s added across all results to ensure overall grades match the tally from previous years, on aggregate.
The plan this year is that a 'postmarking adjustment' to students' grades will reduce from 7 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
In other words, students' grades will still be inflated – just at a lower level, on aggregate, compared with the bumper grades achieved over recent years.
The good news, then, is that students' results will get nudged upwards after they have been marked.
Where it might be unfair is in the competition for college places against students from recent years on bumper grades – but we'll explore that later in the week.
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