Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
MORE STUDENTS ARE doing higher level maths for their Leaving Certificate exam.
The State Examinations Commission’s chief examiners’ report found that, from 2011 to 2015, the percentage of people doing higher level increased from 15∙8% to 27∙4%, a rise of over 73%.
More male students are opting to do higher level, and they’re getting higher grades than their female counterparts.
Overall, some 53,570 students sat the maths exam last year.
The report notes that the increase in the number of candidates taking higher level has been “substantial”, and is often attributed to bonus points being awarded in the CAO system.
However, such a steep change over such a short timeframe necessarily has a very significant impact on the grade distributions that might be expected at the various levels.
“The candidates whose choice of level is least certain are those near the overlap of standards between the levels – they are among the lower achieving candidates at higher level and the higher achieving candidates at ordinary level,” the report states.
Over the same five-year period, the ordinary level cohort fell from 72∙1% to 62∙1%, a decrease of almost 14%, while the foundation level cohort has remained relatively constant at just over 10%.
There has been a phased implementation of new mathematics syllabuses at both Junior and Leaving Certificate in recent years, as part of an initiative called Project Maths.
Advertisement
Gender breakdown
The gender breakdown of students doing various levels has been relatively stable over the last five years, with a slightly lower percentage of female than male candidates doing higher level and foundation level, and a higher percentage doing ordinary level.
A higher percentage of male candidates has achieved A grades and B and C grades over this period. These patterns have been fairly consistent since the introduction of the new syllabus.
At ordinary level, female candidates outperformed their male counterparts with respect to A/B/C grades and E/F/NG rates in each of the last five years.
At foundation level, male candidates outperformed their female counterparts in 2015 with respect to A/B/C grades and E/F/NG rates. From 2011 to 2014, female candidates outperformed their male counterparts with respect to all grades.
Junior Certificate
From 2011 to 2015, the number of students taking the higher level maths exam for the Junior Cert increased from 45∙6% to 55∙3%, the ordinary level cohort fell from 46∙5% to 38∙8%, while the foundation level figure fell from 7∙9% to 5∙9%.
At higher level, a higher percentage of male candidates were awarded A grades, while female candidates outperformed their male counterparts at ordinary level. A full grade breakdown can be read on examinations.ie
Reports on a number of other subjects, including physics, chemistry and business, were also released today, and can be viewed here.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
She was such a lady. I spilt a full glass of red wine over her once and she just smiled and tootled off to the loo to wash it off. Not a word of complaint. Of course I was morto and everyone else was like fella do you even know who that is?!? She was so gracious, wouldn’t even let me pay her dry cleaning bill. RIP
@David Gannon: Families are complicated, Phil’s son was adopted at birth and brought up bu loving parents which was not unusual in that time as Phil was a struggling musician and the baby’s mother , a young single lady not in a position to meet the baby’s needs. Do not rush to judgement, Phil’s mam had already known her own hardship raising Phil and sometimes giving a child for adoption is the most unselfish thing. Phil’s son is a gifted artist and successful sculptor in his own right and Phil would be very proud of him, following his success in finding his birth family, he was acknowledged as Phil’s son. This is not the forum,time or place to intrude in to this man’s grief, he has just lost his nan.
An amazing woman. My brothers were visiting Phils grave and she invited them over to her home for a cup of tea and to see his memorabilia. Such a kind and wonderful person.
@Tony Gordon: From up on the hill my eyes are filled with the beauty down below
Need to look no farther than down in the harbor I remember long ago
Young guys with stars on their eyes I remember it well and the road ends weep and the salty breeze leads me into their spell theirs a boundless ocean in constant motion deep and wide
Coming going waving and flowing oh sister the moon is its sky
Oh I can’t be on I can still look upon it soaking in the view and the fishing boats are arrive on safe at Howth and Phil pal so are you
-Old Pal
By Brush Shiels(overlooked and underrated classic)
@Darren Bates: I’m well aware that having children out of wedlock isn’t a taboo any more. Don’t get too hung up on it. My point was that she had two other children and gave both up for adoption. As a mother, I couldn’t imagine how any woman can bring herself to giving up her children not once, but twice!! And I read her book about Phil as well as articles about her on the net, so I know what I’m talking about. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, you don’t have to agree with it!
@Helena Mulcahy: Personally I think the hardest thing a mother can do is decide to give up her baby for adoption, so I think she was really brave to do that, because she was clearly doing it in the best interests of the children. I know because I adopted both of my children and am eternally grateful to their birth parents for giving me the opportunity to raise their children. She seemed like a wonderful woman. May she rest in peace.
@Helena Mulcahy: whether we disagree or agree with you is not relevant. It is simply neither the time nor the place for expressing your opinion I’m afraid. Haven’t you heard that you should never speak ill of the dead because they can’t defend themselves!
@Helena Mulcahy: you could keep your opinion for a different page ya tit, this is a tribute page to one of the nicest people i ever met, would be sure to leave you in the shadows. dont bother replying to me
Can the so called journalist not call the lady by her full name instead of “Lynott”, very disrespectful, shabby writing but thats the journal.
RIP Philomena
Gutted to here this. A truly remarkable woman that gave us one of the most talented irish music hero’s. Had the pleasure of meeting her at the exhibition in Stephen’s green in Phil’s memory. I very interesting woman that took great pleasure in her sons legacy. Rip
She had 3 children, each of them named some variation of Philomena, she gave each of them away. They didn’t know about each other until adulthood, by then the brilliant Thin Lizzy front man had passed!
It’s both heartwarming and heartbreaking to see so many lovely tributes being paid to Philomena on her passing, she touched so many people in so many ways, we all have wonderful stories to tell. It was a great privilege to have known Philomena and shared so many stories which will be passed on for many years. Her commitment to keeping Phil’s legacy alive is both remarkable and courageous. RIP
Very sad to hear of your passing, i had great affection for you.,Had the Honor of meeting you one night some years ago,being a huge Lizzy fan, i’ll always remember it, the conversation, the hug, the kiss, you were a real lady and you did Phil proud in keeping his legacy alive. R.I.P. Philomena, the sun goes down….. again.
From a 'welcoming culture' to a 'wall of suspicion': What's behind the rise of Germany's AFD?
Eoghan Dalton
Reports from Berlin
4 mins ago
9
South Dublin
Thousands of rental properties in Dublin found in breach of minimum housing standards
1 hr ago
6.6k
33
Fatal Stabbing
Gardaí make third arrest in connection with fatal stabbing on South Anne Street as victim named
Updated
2 hrs ago
57.3k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 148 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 102 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 133 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 103 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 75 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 74 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 36 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 32 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 124 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 59 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 72 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 79 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 42 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 24 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 82 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 65 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 48 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 81 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 60 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say