Accounting is fair, but religion’s more popular

THE Leaving Cert accounting papers taken by more than 7,000 students yesterday posed no serious problems, according to teachers.

TUI subject spokesperson Dolores O’Flynn felt the long first question on the higher level paper was crammed into the page, making it very hard to read the accounts.

She said the question on cash budgeting was also very long for the half hour students should have allocated for it.

Deirdre Burke, the Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland accounting spokesperson disagreed about the first question, believing it would be unfair to run it onto a second page. She thought it was a straightforward and fair paper, as was the ordinary level paper which offered plenty of choice and was very predictable.

ASTI’s subject spokesperson Áine ní Chéadaigh agreed that there were no surprises at ordinary level, although she felt some questions were quite tough. She said students capable of As or Bs at higher level should have been pleased but others were probably more challenged.

For senior students taking technical drawing, ASTI’s spokesperson John O’Sullivan said the higher level questions were in line with what was expected and the paper was presented well. He said the square-based pyramid in question 4 was easy to visualise, as were the solids in a number of questions on the clearlydiagramed ordinary level paper.

The higher level Junior Certificate science paper was more difficult and demanding than the last few years, according to ASTI spokesperson Mattie Finnerty. He said a lot of detail was required and students would have needed the full time. He said the chemistry questions were extremely testing, particularly a part which asked for a balanced equation.

TUI’s Ray McGough had no major complaints about the papers, except that he also felt some of the chemistry questions were unsuitable for Junior Certificate level.

The ordinary level paper was considered student friendly but Mr Finnerty felt it was hard asking for labeled diagrams in some questions.

More than 15,000 Junior Cert students were examined in religious education yesterday, up from 5,800 in its first year last summer.

The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) religious education spokesperson Una Killoran said this year’s papers seemed easier. She said the higher level paper was very manageable; there were no major problems except for the amount of writing required. But she liked the fact that candidates were given statements and pictures to focus them on questions.

ASTI religious education spokesperson David Martin said the only major change in the format was the absence of a biblical text in the paper, which he felt required a lot of abstract thinking.

The ordinary level paper featured many of the same pictures and written passages as the higher paper but with different questions, which Ms Killoran considered a bit tough.