As part of our leaving cert domination plans, we swallowed up leaving-cert.net a few months ago and we’re now getting ready to merge it with theleavingcert.com. It will become our ‘student blogging section’ on theleavingcert.com. So we need new bloggers. Students who are going in to 6th year next month (or repeating!). Here’s what we posted earlier on leaving-cert.net;

Calling all leaving cert bloggers!

After the excellent job done entertaining you lot for the 2010 leaving cert by MisterX, Annah, Bruno, Valerie, Ronan and David, we need a new set of bloggers for the 2011 leaving cert.

This year the site is going to get even better. As some of you may remember, leaving-cert.net &theleavingcert.com joined forces a few months ago and we’ve decided to merge the two sites and relaunch early in the new school year with some excellent new features.

So why blog for us? What’s in it for you? Well, as our previous bloggers will tell you, your ramblings aren’t just published here on leaving-cert.net, they’re often featured in national press. Our blogger’s entries are regularly featured in the Irish Times leaving cert blog watch section both online and in print.

You’ll get the chance to share your tips and experience with not only your friends at school but with every leaving cert student in the country.

So how do you become a leaving cert blogger for 2011? Simply use our contact form to tell us about yourself: your hobbies and interests; the subjects you’re taking in the leaving cert; your experience of writing and the level of commitment you are willing to show – it’s important to be able to stick to some sort of regular blogging schedule.

We’ll then select our 2010/2011 team of bloggers granting you full access to blog on our site for the big year ahead.

So what are you waiting for? Tell us why YOU should get the chance to join the team & potentially feature in the national press and get some fame for yourself… Closing date for applications is 15th of September 2010.

Do you have what it takes? Do you have opinions? Can you express them without personally insulting people or getting us shut down?! If so, we’d love to hear from you.

The CAO website may have been the victim of a DOS attack. Basically their server would have bombarded with fake requests for data and eventually topped itself. The person or people who carried out the attack know exactly what they’re doing. Today is a big day for the CAO / points / leaving cert and all that.

Anyway, here’s both level 6/7 & level 8 points details in the full;

Download (PDF, 38.95KB)

Download (PDF, 79.68KB)

Well here’s a press association press release;

Only one Leaving Certificate student has achieved nine A1s in this year’s exams – the highest in the country.

Six pupils secured eight A1s on higher level subjects while 37 got the top mark in seven papers and 92 secured six.

But the State Examinations Commission (SEC) revealed the number of high achievers has dipped from last year, when 11 teenagers got eight A1s and one scooped nine.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hZBABXBTmzDFZ1pGo_esJh2iK7OA

So only one person in the country got nine A1′s which is the same as last year. Yes, only one. Disgraceful. Six of you got eight A1′s, which pales in comparison to last year’s eleven And people wonder why the leaving cert has become so competitive and a points race? That press release right there is the reason why. It’s wrong on so many levels. No mention of failure rates, no mention of individuals (all just stats and comparisons)… ignore that drivel as you’ll find articles like that all over the place, written by people who’ve probably never even sat a leaving cert, never mind hit 600 points in it.

photo credit: hammersmithandfulham

Enough with the leaving cert elite, here’s a stat for you – less than 0.24% of people got 600 points. Yes they deserve praise, but they’re a tiny minority group and we must not let their success detract from the average John or Mary who’s given it 100%, gotten 300 points but is delighted and never expected it.

Eoin Jackson (xlc project) who took an incredible 30 subjects, passed 27. Insane. Most people struggle with 7 subjects.

Happy? Angry? Surprised? We’d love to hear how you all got on…

Reviews / Rechecks

If you want to get anything reviewed (and ultimately rechecked), get a form from your school and return it to them by August 24th. Recheck applications close on September 8th and cost €40 per subject (free if you get upgraded). Results from rechecks won’t be out until the middle of October.

It was only higher level papers that were dodgy. 207 of them. Students were told to carry on with whatever they had in front of them whilst the mess was sorted out. So shades of 2009 all over again.

Were you one of the unlucky 207? The SEC released a statement last night saying “Shit Happens”. Well, i might be paraphrasing. So they’ve got no sympathy for you, you won’t get any special treatment and you’re expected to just deal with it and put up with their mistakes.

This is Ireland after all, the land where mistakes go unpunished at the top, and the consequences of those mistakes delegated to those at the bottom.

Facebook

Shauna: Oh business was really easy. I’m so happy with it
Daniel: Business was a breeze loved it! jus one more exam to go :-
Adam: it has to be said,that was one of the handiest business paper ever..
Sophia: Failed Business For A Fact… 2 More Tests Left=]
Paul: business did not go well
Caoimhe: irish was a lovely paper, tad disappointed that the scéal options were the 2 I knew really well but could just pick one, poems were grand, although I thought the questions this year were really weird!
Niall: Ordinary Level Irish was insultingly easy. Business was…draining to say the least.
Ailbhe: Business was torture I thought my hand was gonna fall off
Lydia: Business was weird, I honestly dont know what to think of it, but I dont feel very positive about it =/
Hazel: predicted all of irish paper 2 but still cudnt answer half d Q’s! An Triail is a load of bullshit
Lorraine: we were screwed over in paper 1 4 irish but i tink it made up 4 itself in paper 2 tanx b 2 god!!!!! Jack….u rock hahaha!!!!!
Ciaran: Irish paper 2 was simple..did it in 40 mins!!
Caitlin: Irish Paper 2 was sooooo much nicer than Paper 1
Dónal: Irish higher paper 2 was suprisingly nice… if it wasnt for a trolley trying to end my life… would be a great day! ha
Emma: fucked up irish paper 2! But on the plus side no irish ever AGAIN!!!!!!!!
Cliodhna: irish paper 2 go maith
Simone: irish paper 2 … … all i can say is thank god i never have ta go tru it EVER again
Rachel: irish paper 2 you were perfect Finished Irish forever!

Twitter

@Elle_cubed: Irish Paper 2 was nice enough. made up a load of crap on stair na gaeilge tho! :/
@Sexonwheelz: Paper 2 went well in Irish. I won’t say it was orgasmic, but it was good…
@_therealbecca: irish paper 2 was actually grand, the stair na gaeilge was fucked up though, everyting i studied didn’t come up.. oh well!
@Kevism: Irish paper 2 was alright… left out stair though, didn’t know any of them.
@AnythingXGoes: Irish paper 2 was kinda difficult, few dodgy words, but everything I predicted came up No honours Irish again!!
@erelapan: YES YES i’m brilliant. I’m awesome. Irish paper 2 = bulldozed.
@Rachelq10: SO tired but business went well & never have to read,write,talk or listen to Irish again, happy days =)
@louisexoxox: Irish paper was grand and business was brill.

A few days ago we had a comment telling us the name, exam number, roll number and exam center number of a student who was believed to have cheated in the leaving cert. The comment was never published but it gave us the idea to write about ‘cheating in the leaving cert’.

photo credit: tantek

There’s a mega thread on boards.ie leaving cert forum about cheating. I’ll quote some of the first post here;

There’s cheating happening in my school, the majority of students use the fact that the toilets are in our P.E hall and that the superintendents have no reason to follow them in. The students hide notes written from before the exam in their socks and pants and some even got away with having a phone on their lap for an entire paper and reading saved messages from it. Others used the bathroom to call students from other schools and got full answers on questions.

That post has sparked 669 responses in 4 days with many people weighing in with their opinions. Some say you should just shut up and concentrate on your own exams, others say these cheats could potentially pip you to a college place.

We don’t want names, we don’t want exam numbers – we’d love to publish them but unfortunately we have to adopt this ‘innocent until proven guilty’ approach to protect our own asses

But we do have a question for you guys… in the form of a poll… it’s all annonymous… we simply want to know if you know of anyone that’s currently cheating in leaving cert exams! Yes or No.

Also, if you have any cheating tips or advice, please tell us all about them below. My personal favourite is one i blogged about a couple of years ago. Replacing the wrapper of a coke bottle with a custom made one.

Like it or not, cheating goes on in the leaving cert and in any set of exams. I know about, you know about it and anyone who has sat exams knows about it, let’s not play dumb. I’m not sure what things were like 20 years ago, i can only speak from my own experience, but radio hosts, teachers, supervisors etc… are sorely mistaken if they think cheating doesn’t happen.

I guarantee you there are very intelligent cheaters in the leaving cert with technology & tools so sophisticated that it’s virtually impossible for them to be caught by regular joes supervising.

photo credit: skibler

Take that coke bottle trick. No supervisor would cop it. I’d put money on it. Or how about wireless pens, watches, earpieces etc… cheating isn’t just taking in sheets of paper in your pockets. That’s much too risky and those cheats are the ones who are destined to fail anyway. The modern cheat is already on course for good marks, but they’re under so much pressure to get ‘x’ amount of points, that they will do whatever it takes to get them.

Good cheats never get caught and it’s up to the state to train and educate supervisors about modern cheating techniques and the latest technology & tools that *can* be used to aid cheating. Most of it, to the average person, will just go undetected.

Facebook

Aisling: well, that was………… yeah… college isn’t that important, right?? it’ll be grand…:(
Ash: Irish couldn of been any harder!!!
Ciara: thinks a 5 year old cud of written a better irish paper for me
Simone: irish paper 1 and maths paper 2 wer very very haaaard …
Johnny: maths went wayyy better than expected!! , irish did go as expected haha loada shite all together
Lorcan: Could my irish letter get any worse? i better finish it here off… Do chara, Seníor ding dong.
Roisin: HONOURS IRISH:O YOU BEAUT OF A PAPER:*
Eamonn: Quinn dropped to pass last min! fucking EASY!
Marie: Wicked but screwed 4 ppr 2 tmrow tá án Teanga Gaeilge Go mhaith )
Mike: Irish will be the death of my leaving cert!
Jamie: irish listening should go **** itself !!!!!!
Eoin: Maths p.2, graand. Irish p.1, graand. Irish Aural, shocking.
Stevie: Tank god irish is nearly finished,just hope paper 2 wil be just as easy as paper 1
Danielle: i have 2 admit 2day cudnt of got worse wat a disaster…..:( screw you irish!!!!
Tommy: Left pass after 30 mins
Shane: Shite
Athena: Relihan Did extract questions and still walked out an hr early, lunched it in town till the aural, lazy times are gd times

Twitter

@_suzy_q: Maths <3 . Irish aural and paper 1 was tough enough. Essay titles weren’t kind, ha.
@WildeAboutOscar: Phew, got the essay I wanted on Irish Paper 1. Aural was fine despite Donegal Irish bit they always include just to annoy us.
@DanMcGrath182: Maths paper 2 was a disaster..,.. Irish paper 1 was pretty easy… 4 exams to go!
@flowerchild_x: Maths is done FOREVER! And Irish Paper 1 went well!
@XxKizxX: Irish Paper 1 done i wrote a lovely essay about a green day concert <3

Facebook

Joanne: maths paper 2 was not 2bad! =) few!!!:)
Katie: Maths paper 2 was good
Robert: maths paper 2 was easier than paper 1
Sarah: Maths Paper 2 went well:D….was very happy
Niamh: maths paper 2 went gooooood ! 3 more tests then done forever friday night should be good
Nei: just failed Maths paper 2, but on the flip side is beyond caring…
Amy: Maths paper 2 im chuffed!x x x x
Sean: after maths paper 2 im ready to go fix the roof with the safty rope tied around my neck… fml that was hard
Caroline: fuck maths paper 2 was deadly:-(
Alastair: Maths paper 2 was grand !!!!!!!!!
Paul: maths paper 2 was wayyyy better than paper 1!!!!

Twitter

@aidandisney: Maths 2 was much easier than expected. I found The Circle hard but other wise it was a nice paper considering its my weak point
@dannyboymed: Maths paper 2.. grand stuff
@tehPOK: Maths 2 was grand nice paper. Now to learn off two irish essays
@Matt_Teddy: Maths II.. After looking back on it.. Not too bad.. Nice paper, but I made a few mistakes.. Still hoping for a B overall..
@CShiels: It’s impossable for me to get a A1 in Maths now the thought is so depressing Irish next :/

Facebook

Nicola: higher level paper was absolutely torture!!!!

Hana: terrible

Niall: Relatively ok. There were a few chewy bits but I’d say I got either a B1 or A2 overall.

Ailbhe: Was great

Laura: Was Shit horrible awful crap rotten… Shall i continue?

Danielle: maths was hard

Ciara: maths paper 1 = disaster!!!

Shauna: Maths went deadly wooo dis day next week ill be finished the leaving  :)

Michael: maths paper 1… not to shabby plans 4 de weekend……… study for paper 2

Jazmine: Six exams left & maths was easy today

Katie: if i wasn’t failing maths already i def am after today!!

Jay: ordinary maths more like rocket science!!!!!!

Donagh: i actually enjoyed that maths paper

Oisin: (HL) really weird. finished every qs (i could do) in an hour and a half but it was fairly weird like. maybe did well enough – around 70ish – but could also have done really badly

Karmel: maths paper 1 woz a disaster! worst one i seen in the pass paper books since 1999!

Judy : fucking ********..it was a absolute joke

Twitter

@Kloecor: Maths paper 1 was a complete fail!!!

@XxKizxX: Listening to @CountdownTo906 im glad they thought OL maths paper 1 was hard and not just me

@iSparkleToo: Ow. Math headache

@BeHappy_x: Maths paper 1 was EASY. Geography was okay!

@Deehaul: When you see other people struggling with the exam it makes you feel a bit better..

@Dillonon: geography went alright, maths was a sheer disaster :\

Facebook

Joe: I am a geography god!

Thomas: geography actually wasnt as hard as i thought it wud b

Seanie: Geography was mediocre.twas sticky enuf

Alan: fairly happy wit geography:D

Suzie: Geography Was A Doddle! Stress Of Maths P.1

Sarah: is delited wit d geography paper nw maths

Adam: well i failed geography

Declan: geography think it went prity easy

Aaron: Geography went so well!!! Knew everythin

Twitter

@JohnMcD32: Geograpy exam went well. Now to get food and attempt maths paper 1!

@aidandisney: I dropped in Geography. I really didn’t want to but I had enough of gambling. I wasn’t prepared for Higher at all. I wasn’t alone though.

@Cianmm: The Geography paper was OKish. What you think?

@katiemc95: geography was so easy really happy

@PaulHeylin: Finished geography!!! So happy global warming came up!!! now lunch then maths p1…!!

@_rorofosho_: geography was grand :] maths next. gonna be grand cus its ordinary

@JohnoManley: Geography went well 6 o clock morning study was worth it.. Now to write random numbers on a page Maths paper 1 !

@dannyboymed: Geography went grand, I think.. Worried I didn’t do as well as I think I did because I think I did so well xD

@CShiels: Woo No more geography ever!!!!! Wooooooo maths now stupid e-xamit.ie isn’t working!!

@JohnMcD32: Geograpy exam went well. Now to get food and attempt maths paper 1!

@aidandisney: I dropped in Geography. I really didn’t want to but I had enough of gambling. I wasn’t prepared for Higher at all. I wasn’t alone though.

@Cianmm: The Geography paper was OKish. What you think?

@katiemc95: geography was so easy really happy

@PaulHeylin: Finished geography!!! So happy global warming came up!!! now lunch then maths p1…!!

@_rorofosho_:   geography was grand :] maths next. gonna be grand cus its ordinary

@JohnoManley: Geography went well 6 o clock morning study was worth it.. Now to write random numbers on a page Maths paper 1 !

@dannyboymed: Geography went grand, I think.. Worried I didn’t do as well as I think I did because I think I did so well xD

@CShiels: Woo No more geography ever!!!!! Wooooooo maths now stupid e-xamit.ie isn’t working!!

Conclusion

So most of you seem to be happy enough and i think it’s a case of “i have bigger fish to fry” with maths looming. Only 20% of students are doing higher level, which is an indication of how difficult it is or how poorly taught it is or how bad a reputation it has etc…

It’s gonna be fun *trying* to keep track of all the maths comments later. I should think there’ll be a lot of editing involved