Testing times but Maths Paper I deemed ‘fair’
Andy Carolan, TUI spokesperson, described the higher level Leaving Certificate paper as fair but testing, particularly the (c) parts of many questions. He felt students might have been surprised at the places where theorems came up but overall it was a good paper for brighter students.
ASTI spokesperson Eileen Scanlon said it was a good first higher level paper. She said there was no ambiguity about what was being asked and agreed the (c) parts of questions were quite tough.
One difficulty she highlighted was students’ disappointment that sequences and series came up in question 5, rather than question 4.
Mr Carolan said the ordinary level Leaving Certificate paper was well balanced but (c) parts were more difficult than usual, which might make high grades hard to come by.
ASTI spokesperson Maria Kelly said there was a lot of English in question 1(b) about bill-paying mobile phones.
“We have a lot of non-national students now for whom English shouldn’t be a barrier to them doing well at maths. Most of our students don’t have bill-pay phones either, it’s mostly prepaid so they wouldn’t necessarily know about the concepts, even though the maths required was simple multiplying and adding,” she said.
Ms Kelly said it was surprising there was no question asking for differentiation from first principles.
The foundation level paper was described as very practical by Mr Carolan, as it had the same layout as in other years.
Ms Scanlon said an awful lot of language was used instead of maths symbols in the higher level Junior Certificate paper, particularly in question 2(a) about processing passport applications.
“The (a) parts should be simple and set in such a way that a student can go straight into it, considering there’s so many people for whose first language is not English these days.”
Ms Kelly said the ordinary level paper was predictable and featured nothing out of the ordinary. Her only criticism was the graph in question 6(b), where a minus sign in part of the equation gave students the opposite of the normal U-shape they are used to.
For Leaving Certificate Irish, the ASTI’s Robbie Cronin said students at both levels were happy with the listening sections featuring pieces on Adi Roche, Ros na Rún and 3G phones.
He felt the higher level paper had a fabulous choice of essays, including the importance of education and public faith in the gardaí, and a piece about Irish America was interesting although it had some challenging language.
TUI’s Donal Ó Loinsigh said the essays were in the range of topics that students would were expecting and comprehension pieces were student-friendly. He was pleased questions did not just ask students to retrieve information from passages.
Mr Cronin said the ordinary level paper drew a very positive response and had a great range of composition choices, including the conversation many teens would be familiar with as they arrive home late from a party. He said the second comprehension piece about All-Ireland double medal winner Ríona Buckley was fair but the format of a question asking about people who have helped her was confusing.
The higher level Junior Certificate paper was in line with what was expected, according to TUI spokesperson Bernadette Fitzgerald. It included a wide choice of topics such as favourite bands or singers, the importance of sport and watching a football match.
She said a comprehension piece about Star Wars was of interest to young people and it was good to see the use of modern technological vocabulary, such as the Irish for ‘memory chip’.
Mr Cronin reported, however, that students had difficulty with questions looking for them to talk about machinery in their own Irish.
He added higher level students felt they were asked for too much information in section A of the aural test and were rushed to get answers written.
Ms Fitzgerald said the ordinary level paper was very predictable and pictures and cartoons were helpful.
She said students might have been familiar with the unseen poem, Teilifís by Gabriel Rosenstock, while the written production section included common tasks such as a letter or postcard from holidays.
