Vol. 518 No. 4
90 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Science the proposals he has to ensure greater consistency in the marking of junior and leaving certificate examinations in view of the differences and disparities highlighted in the recent report of the NCCA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11727/00]
I presume the Deputy is referring to the recent report of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment From Junior to Leaving Certificate – which was a longitudinal study of 1994 junior certificate candidates who took the leaving certificate examination in 1997. The report indicates that there is a high correlation between the performance in the junior certificate and the leaving certificate examinations. There is however evidence of poorer performance at leaving certificate level by candidates who took subjects at ordinary and foundation level in the junior certificate than by candidates who took the same subjects at higher level in the junior certificate examination.
There are other reasons for differences in grades achieved at leaving certificate level in subjects in comparison to grades achieved in these subjects at junior certificate level: different and smaller cohorts may take a subject at leaving certificate level thereby making direct comparison to junior certificate results not fully valid; subjects also differ in terms of their complexity; subjects may have more than one component in terms of assessment (i.e. practical, oral or aural) in addition to written; results may also vary between subjects depending on whether there is one or more components in terms of assessment in the examination.
Furthermore, it is my intention to provide wider forms of assessment at leaving certificate level, where possible, with less reliance on the terminal written examination alone.
A fully comprehensive system of marking is in place in both the leaving and junior certificate examinations to ensure that the work of all candidates is marked fully in accordance with the agreed marking scheme decided upon at the marking conference. The work of all examiners is monitored to a significant degree to ensure conformity with the marking scheme.
