Maths exam draws angry reactions

THERE were angry reactions from some teachers to yesterday’s higher level Leaving Certificate maths Paper I.

ASTI spokesperson Eileen Scanlon said it better suited students who did the old Junior Certificate maths syllabus last examined in 2002. She said those who did the 2003 Junior Certificate would have covered some topics in yesterday’s paper at senior cycle only.

“It was a very difficult and unfair paper, it should have been easier than usual because of different students not having covered the same topics for the same length of time,” Ms Scanlon said.

She also had complaints about the wording of Question 7 about calculus.

TUI’s Leaving Certificate maths spokesperson Andrew Carolan said the higher level Leaving Certificate Paper I was tougher than last year’s and would have tested the average student.

“The only ones it would really suit are the very well prepared students,” he said.

Mr Carolan suggested the algebra questions could have posed problems for many students.

He said the ordinary level Paper I was well-balanced and provided a good spread of questions, although average students might have found it testing. High grades could be hard to achieve, given the difficulty of some latter parts of questions.

Mr Carolan said the foundation level paper brought no surprises and was very straightforward.

John McKeon, TUI’s Junior Certificate maths spokesperson, said yesterday morning’s foundation and ordinary level papers were pretty standard and well laid out.

ASTI’s Maria Kelly said the first question on the Junior Certificate ordinary level exam set a bad tone. “The first question should help settle students in but this one was a bit difficult and wouldn’t have put students at ease,” she said.

At higher level, Mr McKeon said the paper was very demanding and any students who get an A would need to have worked very hard.

However, he found the use of the word ‘reciprocal’ in Question 2(a) might have caused difficulty for some students. He also felt a problem solving question about the cost of a box of drinking chocolate was difficult.

Ms Scanlon said the Junior Certificate higher level paper tested real life maths.

The afternoon’s Leaving Certificate higher level Irish Paper I provided a topical choice of essays, according to ASTI spokesperson Robbie Cronin. He said a comprehension piece about two men who set up the Google website was interesting and related questions were fair.

TUI’s Dónal Ó Loinsigh said the comprehension extracts were on the difficult side and some included a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary. He said they could have been made more readable and sentences were too long in places.

Mr Cronin said the letter in question in ordinary level Irish was long but, apart from a difficult comprehension piece, it was a good paper.

He was pleased with the choice of essays in Junior Certificate higher level Irish which included a debate on whether Manchester United is the world’s best soccer club, but said the language in some of the comprehension questions was difficult.