It all added up in maths and geography tests

IT was day three of what has been a tough week for Leaving Certificate students, but no major controversy arose over their maths and geography exams.

The ordinary level Leaving Certificate maths Paper 1 was said by Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) spokeswoman Bríd Griffin to feature a compound interest question which less academic students might have found difficult, with a functions question also of similar standard. She said the complex numbers and calculus questions were along typical lines.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) maths spokeswoman Eileen Scanlon said it was a predictable paper for any students who had prepared well.

She said the higher level paper was a fair exam, although she had met some students who were not pleased with it. The biggest difficulty she had with the paper was the first part of the opening question, which did not offer students a chance to simply recall material, as would be expected at the start.

Ms Griffin said the higher level maths paper should have put most students in a positive mood for paper 2 on Monday morning. She said the algebra questions contained none of the little catches which might ordinarily be expected, although the last part of the second question was a bit searching, as was part of a calculus question.

Imelda Mooney, also of TUI, said the foundation level maths paper 1 was a nice exam, covering a broad range of mathematical areas.

In the afternoon, around 25,000 candidates took Leaving Certificate geography, and TUI subject representative Tom Hunt said it was a fine paper once students got over the shock of the first short question asking them to identify an asthenosphere in a diagram of a subduction zone. He said the questions on isostatic processes and on rural settlement had been expected, while geo-ecology essay questions were not too tough.

ASTI geography spokesman Jimmy Staunton said the exam was in line with those of previous years, particularly the question on regional geography, while the economic geography question had very topical issues such as European policies and fossil fuels.

He said parts of the ordinary level paper were tough but students had good choices. Mr Staunton felt that a question on plate tectonics could have been a bit simpler for candidates at this level, however most questions gave students plenty material to help them along.

Higher level Junior Certificate Irish students faced their second paper yesterday morning, which ASTI spokesman Robbie Cronin said was better than Thursday’s slightly difficult first exam. While he considered two of the comprehension passages difficult, two others were fine.

Mr Cronin said the letter question about a summer Gaeltacht course was very student-friendly, as was another one asking students to write about sport.

He was also pleased with the Junior Certificate foundation level Irish exam, for which students had just one paper.

TUI geography representative Jacqueline Sheil said the Junior Certificate higher level paper offered students a good choice of wide-ranging questions, with an excellent use of visual aids and colour. She was also pleased that it contained a number of topical issues such as global warming and human migration, with the only difficulty being the possible problems which a crossword in the short question section might have caused for students with a specific learning difficulty. Ms Sheil said the ordinary level exam presented a good mix of well-phrased, well-structured questions, and also made good use of visuals and colour, something first introduced to the ordinary level paper last year.