Students eye finish line with Spanish and chemistry

THE finishing line in this year’s state exams came into view with the arrival of the Spanish papers for Junior and Leaving Certificate students.

The afternoon’s Leaving Certificate chemistry exam proved a tough reminder for many students, however, and Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) subject spokesperson Camille King suggested top grades will be hard to come by for higher level students.

She said most of the questions were particularly long and it would have been difficult to get the exam complete within the three hours. She thought the ordinary level exam was a fair paper, with questions set in a format very suited to students at that level.

Ciara O’Shea of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) did not think the paper was any longer than those of other years, but felt there were quite sticky parts to some questions.

She felt that the appearance of organic chemistry in at least three questions was a bit much, but said there was a very nice question on equilibrium.

Robbie Cronin of the ASTI described the higher level Leaving Certificate Spanish exam as a very good paper. He said the ordinary level paper for Leaving Certificate candidates included a comprehension about the dangers of cycling in Madrid which was too difficult for students at this level. But he was otherwise positive about the exam.

Mr Cronin thought the higher level Junior Certificate Spanish exam was fine for the most part, with plenty variety in comprehension pieces. He pointed to a slight problem in a question about a dialogue, which asked: “Where does Rafa?”, omitting the word work, although the next question asked when he works there.

The ordinary level exam also offered nice variety and was pitched just right, Mr Cronin said.

Around 7,500 Junior Certificate students took metalwork in the afternoon, and ASTI’s Kenny Donagher felt the use of photos instead of diagrams in the first higher level question will probably have been helpful.

Mr Donagher said the ordinary level exam, which featured questions about technology in modern cars was a fine paper.