For the attention of Teachers, Students and Parent/Guardians in Second level Schools
Leaving Certificate History & Geography 2020
The purpose of this notice is to outline the following:
(a) Roll out of Online Marking in the subject of Leaving Certificate History & Geography for 2020 and beyond.
(b) Changes to the front cover of the Leaving Certificate History & Geography Coursework Booklets 2020
(c) Information for Candidates and their Parents/Guardians.
Roll out of Online Marking in the subject of Leaving Certificate History & Geography for 2020 and beyond
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) successfully used an online marking system to mark certain Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate/Cycle subjects in 2019. This followed a pilot in 2016 and 2017.
Online marking facilitates high quality, reliable marking of candidate’s examination responses. There are many advantages to online marking both for the examiners and for the examination system as a whole. In particular, marking online allows examiners to focus on the marking exercise and not on the administration of the marking. As the calculation of marks are inherent in the system, online marking eliminates the possibility of mistakes being made in mark calculation and transcription.
The SEC intends to roll out online marking to all Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle subjects by 2022. In the case of Leaving Certificate History & Geography, the written paper and the coursework booklet will both be marked online in 2020.
Changes to the front cover of the Leaving Certificate History & Geography Coursework Booklets
As you will be aware, History and Geography Coursework Booklets for the 2020 Leaving Certificate candidature will be issuing within the coming days. The cover of the 2020 Coursework Booklets will be different to the 2019 Coursework Booklets (see below).
One notable change will be the presence of barcodes and L shaped marker marks both on the front cover and all other pages (not present above). These are tools used to facilitate the scanning of the Coursework Booklets in preparation for online marking.
Another change will be that candidates will be required to provide their Day and Month of Birth on the front cover along with their examination number, Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) and School Roll Number. The format of the Day and Month of Birth will be DD MM or LL MM as below. This is to allow the SEC carry out further reconciliation checks to ensure that candidates have submitted their correct examination number.
Information for Candidates and their Parents/Guardians
There is no significant change for candidates. They will sit their examinations in the normal way. When the Written Paper and Coursework Booklets are returned to SEC, they will be scanned and will become electronic scripts. The paper versions will be retained. The scanned images of the candidates’ Written Paper/Coursework Booklet will then be marked by examiners using specially designed software. Candidates sitting any of the examinations in subjects which will be marked online should be made aware of the following in advance of the examinations.
- Candidates should write their answers in black or blue pen. Gel pens should not be used.
- Pencil may be used for completing diagrams and graphs.
- Candidates should not use correction fluid (i.e. tippex) on examination material. Where a candidate makes an error, they should cross out the error, and continue with the correction on a new line. This is the case for all subjects, as there is a possibility that marks can still be awarded if content in the perceived error merit credit.
- Candidates should complete their answers using the spaces provided as this will ensure that all of their answers are captured in the scanning process. Anything written outside of these areas or in the margins of Coursework may not be seen by the examiner.
Queries:
For queries concerning Leaving Certificate History, please contact the Practicals Section via email at practicals@examinations.ie or by phone to 090 644 2861/2862.
For queries concerning Leaving Certificate Geography, please contact the Orals Section via email at orals@examinations.ie or by phone to 090 644 2741/2864.
For queries concerning the roll out of online marked subjects, please contact the Online Marking Team via email at onlinemark@examinations.ie or by phone at 090 644 2869/2418.
Please bring this email to the attention of teachers and particularly to the attention of candidates and parents/guardians. All of the information detailed above can also be found on www.examinations.ie.