COLLEGE CHOICE:THE NEW Irish Times/USI website CampusTimes was inundated with email queries from anxious Leaving Cert students and their parents yesterday.
The majority of questions concerned rechecking exam papers and the viewing of exam papers in school.
Many people seemed unaware that the form required to view scripts was included in the envelope containing the results. Students can view corrected exam papers free to see how the marking scheme was applied to their work.
This will help them decide whether to lodge an appeal on their result in one or more subjects. With the exception of external candidates – mainly grind school students – all applications for viewing of marked scripts should be made through the schools.
The closing date for receipt of completed application forms in schools is next Tuesday, August 21st. Candidates who took the Leaving Cert outside of a second-level school should follow the instructions that accompany their provisional statement of results.
To view your exam paper:The viewing of scripts will take place in your school on Friday, August 31st and Saturday, September 1st. After that, there is a €40 fee per subject to recheck your paper.
You may be accompanied to the viewing by one other person.
Some visitors to the Campus Times questioned whether a parent could view the scripts on their behalf, as they were going abroad on holiday to celebrate their results.
Unfortunately, viewing a script in these circumstances is not possible as you must be present yourself. But you still have the option of requesting a recheck and paying the €40 per subject even if you don’t view your papers. All applications to have a script remarked must be with the State Examinations Commission by 5pm on Wednesday, September 5th.
What happens if my appeal is successful?The results of these appeals will be issued to all schools in mid-October. If your mark in one or more subjects is upgraded, the CAO will be advised. In this case, you will get the college place your new points score merits – no matter what course you may have accepted in the meantime.
However, the college may not always be in a position to allow you to start on this course in late October as you will have already missed half of the first semester, but you will be guaranteed your place on the course for the 2013-2014 academic year. This is very unsatisfactory.
What to do if you failed maths?Even though the numbers of those failing maths at all three levels has dropped considerably to 3,800, Campus Times had a number of enquiries from students in this situation.
If you are one of the unfortunate candidates to fail higher level maths, a number of colleges including DIT and NUI Galway (Wednesday, August 22nd), UL (Thursday, August 23rd) and NUI Maynooth (Friday, August 24th) offer second-chance higher level maths exams, to enable you to access level-8 engineering courses.
CIT and WIT have introduced special maths exams on Tuesday, August 21st and Friday, August 24th, respectively for any students who have already applied to either college and have failed maths at any level.
As more colleges are beginning to offer facilities for those who fail to secure a minimum of a grade D3 in maths each year, it would be advisable if you have failed maths (and therefore ineligible for your desired course) to check with the university or institute in question, to see if they are offering any special examination or other arrangements in 2012.
What happens if your points score was disappointing?Many students who overestimated their potential performance in the Leaving Certificate found themselves at sea yesterday, as their current college plans fell apart. If you are in that situation explore the many excellent options on offer through your local PLC (post Leaving Cert ) college.
In Dublin, for example, CDVEC has more than 300 courses on offer in 22 colleges throughout the city, and although some are fully subscribed others may have vacancies when the dust settles.
The same situation applies throughout the Republic. If you successfully complete your post Leaving Cert course in the coming academic year, you may be able to access the CAO course for which you failed to secure sufficient points today, through the reserved places the universities and institutes put aside for further education applicants.
Tomorrow: This year's CAO points race
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