Grading the system

LET’S have a more optimistic spin to the annual hype to distract us about how few pupils study higher maths.

This year’s Leaving Cert results show that grade A was achieved by one in every five pupils who sat chemistry, and likewise for physics, and by one in seven (which is not at all bad) of those who took maths. By comparison, grade A was awarded to one in every seven candidates in Irish and to one in 10 of those who opted for French and English. It seems it is easier to get an ‘A’ in the main scientific subjects than it is in languages. I could never understand why it was always more difficult to gain honours in English than in maths.

Michael Mernagh