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IT’S THE SECOND Wednesday of August, meaning one thing: Leaving Cert results day.
That’s right, today is the day that some 57,149 students across the country find out their final scores in secondary education.
Last year was the first year of the common points system, a new grading system which changed how points are distributed for exam results.
It means that students won’t be looking at the 14 lettered grades of old, so instead of As, Bs and Cs it’s a numerical scale of 1-8 for both Higher and Ordinary levels.
Speaking ahead of the release of the results, Minister for Education Richard Bruton congratulated the students who took the exam, calling it “an important milestone”, but stressing that it is not the only path within the education system.
Students receiving your results today, I want you to know that there are more opportunities now than ever before, to help you achieve your ambitions in life. There are a number of pathways to further your education, whether you choose third level, a post leaving certificate course, or the apprenticeship and traineeship routes.For students who may not have done as well as you might have hoped, don’t panic, take time to consider all your options and remember that there are a number of routes now available to lead you to your chosen career.
The results
A total of 57,149 students sat the Leaving Cert in 2018, a 2.5% decrease on the numbers who took the exam last year (58,543).
Of those who took the exam this year, 2,709 (4.7%) did so via the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme.
The State Examinations Commission has said the results were “generally broadly in line with those obtained in 2017″.
The top six most popular Higher Level subjects taken by students this year were:
Despite fewer students taking the Leaving Cert this year, there was a greater number of students taking the Higher Level paper this year in two of the three core subjects, Irish and Maths.
Speaking of those big three, there has been a slight decrease this year in the percentage of students earning a H1 grade on all three of those subjects.
In English it was 2.8%, in Irish it was 4.8% and in Maths it was 5.3%.
In Ordinary Level, there were falls in the number of students who failed both English and Irish but a small increase in Maths.
A fail is a O7 or O8 grade and the failure rate dropped from 8.1% to 7.9% in Irish and from 6.5% to 5.3% in English. It increased from 9.7% to 9.9% in Maths.
Across the languages, students also found it tougher going with falls in the percentage of students achieving 1 grades across almost each subject.
The number of H1 grades fell in French from 6% to 5.%, in Spanish from 8.6% to 7.3%, in German from 5.6% to 5.2% and in Italian from 12.9% to 10.2%.
The failure rate did decline in some of the languages this year too however, dropping from 11.3% to 8.8% in Ordinary Level German and from 9.1% to 8% in Ordinary Level Spanish.
The was a huge jump in the number of students earning top marks in Higher Level Biology but it remained relatively still in the other sciences.
In Biology, 11.3% of students earned a H1 mark, more than double the 5.1% who did so last year.
In History, 6.4% of students earned a H1 grade and in Geography the figure is 2.0%.
This was the first year the new Politics and Society subject (here’s what the exam paper looked like in June)
In total, 867 students took the exam in its first year, 774 at Higher Level and 93 at Ordinary Level.
Of those who took it at Higher Level, 6.1% achieved a H1 grad and 9.6% failed the exam.
At Ordinary Level, 1.1% achieved a O1 grade and 12.9% failed.
Speaking about this subject, the minister welcomed its inclusion.
“I would like to welcome this development and the successful examination of the subject. This subject is now available to all schools as a Leaving Certificate option from September 2018,” Bruton said.
The State Examinations Commission is directing students who are getting their results today to check the 2018 Candidate Information Booklet if they have any queries or wish to see about viewing their scripts.
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Since when is Paul o’grady running apple
Is devotion to Apple products and services a new form of consumer religion?
Yes anthony the cult of apple is a scary one
Apple products are poorly designed because they become obsolete so quickly.
Or very cleverly designed as you have to upgrade every two years. Consumer electronics are not built to last, no matter who designs them.
The designs are great, it’s the price that’s poor. I would not mind having to regularly update if the prices were reasonable.
Consumer durability is an important aspect of good and environmentally sound design.
You don’t upgrade Apple products. You replace the product and the previous product becomes quickly disabled and unusable event by firmware and OS upgrades.
Apples uses cheap labour which works in appalling conditions.
Apple products look nice though.
My six year old still functioning perfectly MacBook Pro would beg to differ
My 10 month old bandjaxed 5th generation iPod Touch would beg to agree.
Apple laptops are superb but their phones aren’t….. They are made in difference places
“You don’t upgrade Apple products. You replace the product and the previous product becomes quickly disabled and unusable event by firmware and OS upgrades.”
You could easily get 3-5 years out of an iPhone if you wanted. Apple (and good developers) provide support as best they can for older versions of iOS.
“Apples uses cheap labour which works in appalling conditions.”
Several other companies (Samsung, Playstation to name a few) also use Foxconn to manufacture their products, yet there isn’t any mention about them. (source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2492795/it-careers/foxconn-builds-products-for-many-vendors–but-its-mud-sticks-to-apple.html)
Apple products are very well made and reliable and therefore tend to last longer, but unlike all the android phones from specific manufacturers Apple offer free easy to install upgrades. Android updates are only available for phones running the standard version. If you have a HTC or whatever you have to wait for the company specific one. There is something like 5% of phones running the latest android versus something like 60% running iOS 8.
The new versions have new features that need more oomph so will run slow on older phones but you do not have to upgrade.
Yes, they are way overpriced, yes they are locked down (which adds to reliability) and annoyingly the battery isn’t removeable and there are no external ports or microsd slots but I don’t agree one bit they are designed for obsolescence. (and yes I like apple products).
As would my 6 year old MacBook Pro, iphone 4 and 160gb iPod classic .I was really annoyed they discontinued the iPod classic. I like listening to lots of music. I don’t need apps and crap battery life on my music device
Watch what IOS 8 does to previous versions of iPads and IPods!
Upgrade the IOS at your peril.
Another Troll here!!
I use android for everything, except music. You really can’t beat the iPod classic.
@Bunny: Apple products are reliable because they are so basic. I was in PC world looking at the specs on desktops last week and came up with that I think is a spiffing analogy. Say you want to cut something and you have the choice between an Apple Scissors and Bosche Electric Saw. The Apple Scissors (iScissors) is stylish but most of all it dosnt break. Its super reliable. It always cuts therefore its really well made and well designed product. The electric saw can cut more things, faster and has more functions. Its not necessarily built better than the iScissors, it just have many more parts and features. The iScissors has very few features so it gives off the illusion of being better built (less moving parts). Now the iScissors has a cult following and people will pay €1999.99 for a pair. while the saw retails at €599.99 .
Apple products are sort of like this. They are marketed at people who dont really understand what they are buying. They are paying through the nose for a product that is so basic it breaks less because there are less parts to it. I cant understand how money is so irrelevant for some people that they will buy iMacs and iPhones. Can I have some money? I have a great pair of iScissors for sale. Never break, cuts almost anything.
They produce hugh amounts of waste and untold damage to the environment all in the name of profit.
@Joseph
Not according to Greenpeace (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/11070662/Apple-leads-the-way-on-reducing-environmental-harm.html)
i don’t know where to begin with pointing out how flawed that “logic” is…..
@David Apple like all other multinationals do an absolute minimum to reduce their carbon footprint because it gets in the way of profit. Their “leading the way” is pure self interest, pure PR. What makes Apple so successful is everything they do is planned down to the last detail.
@francis fakeman. Can you please explain what you think can be done on an android that can’t be done on iOS exactly? As for macs, they are meant to be excellent (ie unmatched) in some areas which is why they are loved by their owners.
They have less parts so break less often. Surely this is a good think. Good design means less parts and therefore more reliable.
As for “they are bought by people who don’t know what they are buying”, you couldn’t be further from the truth, with me anyway. I’ve had XDA’s ruining windows CE, HTCs and Samsungs running android, blackberrys etc. I also have 29 years in IT under my belt with windows from 3.0, os/2, NT clustered environments , AIX on RS6000/SPs. You don’t think I understand what I am buying. You are wrong and I am happy with the functionality AND the reliability.
Ill informed, dumb comment. Check your facts first
Wrong, wrong and again wrong. Check your facts
What comment? What facts? Stupid comment.
Don’t need it ,don’t buy it.
I’m sure it will prove very fruitful…..
It gives me the pip.
Apple needs to find new areas of business to survive, their products are over priced and are no longer the cutting edge innovative technology they were.They have almost cult status amongst its consumers but they know that it is only a matter of time before people cop on to the great rip off.
I heard similar arguments 5 years ago
Apple will eventually be surpassed but it’s not going be an overnight collapse. Like sony’s dominence of personal music players or microsofts dominace of pc’s, eventually it will be gradually eclipsed by changing tech and trends. Probably a good few years off yet.
Microsoft still dominate PCs. What are you on about ?
They do and sony still make a walkman mp3 player, but how many people have either in there house now. Microsoft used to be the world’s most valuable tech company and sony used to innovate, like releasing the first lithium ion battery. Apple wont disappear when they stop releasing innovative products but they will get overtaken eventually by other tech companies just like microsoft was by apple and google.
Joseph, new apple stuff, heard of the apple watch ?
Brian thats because not as many people buy pc’s anymore. Imacs still sell bucketloads
I have to accept one thing and this is genuine admiration. I admire the brand loyalty of Aplle fans and how they remain devoted to the Apple ecosystem. Fair dues. Total respect.
It’s the ecosystem that’s the real product Anthony. The gadgets are just interfaces.
Q. For all you IT people. Does the Netflix app on a Samsung Smart TV actually work for anyone in the UK? I’m having to plug an Apple TV into the back of mine. Loads of conversations on various Samsung support forums talk about tricking your Samsung into thinking it’s in the US and getting US content but the Apple TV just works.
My wife decided a few cars ago that she’s just going to drive Volkswagen Golfs. Good enough and she’s other things to spend her time and money on. Every time her car comes up for renewal she just hands one back and gets the next one, and every five years or so the car journalists confirms her loyalty by giving the Golf Car of he Year. That might annoy motoring purists but she’s happy enough.
have your say