Week three of Leaving Certificate 2016 blasted off with references to a spacecraft visiting Pluto and the Large Hadron Collider project in Switzerland.

Science and religious education were the Junior Certificate subjects examined on Thursday at schools around the country.

Leaving Certificate physics was examined yesterday morning and Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokesman Ger Curtin said most higher- level students should have been happy enough.

The third week of Leaving Certificate exams kicked off with papers for students of physics and accounting.

The final week of the 2013 State exams got under way with physics and accounting for Leaving Certificate students.

The Leaving Certificate higher-level physics exam was a bit different in style to other years, according to Teachers’ Union of Ireland subject spokesperson Michael Gillespie.

AT the start of week three of the Leaving Certificate, those studying physics faced into a three-hour exam.