Error on paper will not affect results

A CALCULATION mistake on part of a question may have caused problems for some Junior Certificate business students but they have been assured they will not lose marks over the error.

A monthly column in a cashflow forecast table, provided in an optional question for higher level students, was totalled incorrectly and could have caused confusion or cost them time.

But the State Examinations Commission, expressing regret for the error and any impact it might have had, said it will be taken into account in the marking scheme given to markers.

This should mean that no student will be disadvantaged as a result of the mistake on Question 6 (B), worth around 7% of total marks across both higher level papers.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokesperson Pat Morris said many students might not have noticed it at all and the error should not impact on results.

He thought the exam, which followed yesterday morning’s Paper 1, was well laid out and featured a templated business report which was very helpful.

Mr Morris said the ordinary level business studies paper offered a good choice of nice questions and featured typical topics such as a household budget and business documents.

Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) spokesman Harry Ryan was also quick to point out that the marking scheme would be designed to reflect the mistake in the higher level Paper 2.

Mr Ryan said it was an otherwise lovely paper, following traditional patterns and featuring a nice question about a director’s report on insurance requirements.

He said the morning’s higher level paper was very fair and topical with questions about economic growth and inflation and thought the ordinary level exam was student-friendly and predictable.

Leaving Certificate students completed their Irish studies in the morning, and ASTI spokesman Robbie Cronin said a higher level Paper 2 question about the play An Triail was very difficult. He was happier with fair but challenging poetry questions and with the history of Irish section.

Mr Cronin said the ordinary level Irish paper offered good choice on the prose section, but there was an unfair style in the first poetry question, which asked very specific things of students.

TUI Irish spokeswoman Ruth Morrissey also thought the An Triail question at higher level used very difficult terminology but said the paper was very fair elsewhere, with no surprises in the poetry section.

She felt the same about poetry questions on the ordinary level exam, which she said should have caused no great difficulty for most students.

The afternoon’s Leaving Certificate higher level business exam was challenging but fair, according to ASTI subject spokesman John McDonnell. He said there was an emphasis on getting students to apply their knowledge to real-life situations, with a straightforward applied business question about entrepreneurship, technology investment and management skills, and a mixed level of difficulty in the remaining questions.

Mr McDonnell said the ordinary level exam was predictable and fairly straightforward, and should have suited most candidates.