The minimum half hour that students must stay in State exams may be too short, says a principal who has asked parents of Junior Certificate candidates to urge them not to leave early.

A maths genius had a double-gold moment when he received a prize from world champion walker Rob Heffernan for being one of this year’s three top Leaving Certificate maths students.

More than half of maths teachers are not convinced that the Project Maths system alone will improve exam results, a survey of 253 members of the Irish Maths Teachers’ Association finds.