Junior Cert: Well balanced second paper adds up after last week’s tough first round

After a very tough first paper last Friday, most higher- level Junior Certificate maths students should have been happier with Paper 2 yesterday. Tony McGennis of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) considered the second paper to be quite fair.

He said it was true to the Project Maths syllabus, with a lot of problem-solving and requiring students to understand the topics, rather than just being able to manipulate mathematical figures provided. Mr McGennis said some students might have found the requirement for three missing figures in a means and medians question was challenging.

He welcomed the full explanation of rules, stakes and returns on a question about a spinner game, following feedback about missing factors in a similar Leaving Certificate question in the past.