60,000 candidates get first taste of state examinations
Christina Henehan of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland said the first, higher-level reading passage, in which a woman describes setting about writing a novel, was accessible but testing. She thought an essay about books was likely to have had few takers, except for some female students, but another about sport bringing out the best in people should have been favoured by many candidates.
The media studies questions were considered tricky by Ms Henehan, who said a tabloid article was not as easy as it looked. She said the other option asking students to compare anti-litter campaigns in Dublin and Limerick was challenging as it referred to ‘target audiences’ and different types of campaigns.
Teachers’ Union of Ireland’s Alan Thompson felt the comprehension and essay questions were quite challenging, with short story options quite prescriptive, in what he described as a higher level Paper 1 of two halves. He felt students should have been more familiar with the kind of questions asked in the functional writing section, and said students needed to put in a lot of hard work to get good marks in the paper.
The afternoon’s higher-level paper 2 was considered much nicer for students by Mr Thompson, structured as it was in a more familiar manner and with very fair questions. He said the unseen texts were pitched at the right level and questions on prescribed texts were broad enough to allow students show their knowledge and skills.
Ms Henehan said Paper 2 had plenty for A-grade students to show off, but it should not have been too worrying for students at the weaker end of the spectrum either. While an unseen extract from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing would have been tough, students should have found a piece from Willy Russell’s Educating Rita much more accessible.
She said the unseen extract on the novel The Prince of Mist was very atmospheric and, although a related diary entry question would have best suited more creative students, others should not have found it too difficult.
In the single-paper ordinary level English exam, Ms Henehan said questions about the reading passage from the book I Was a Boy in Belsen might have caught out weaker students. But, she said, most would have been happy with essay topics that included running out of phone credit and writing about someone they admire.
She said various skills were tested in the media studies section that featured a brochure for Fota Wildlife Park, and questions on the fiction extract from Roddy Doyle novel A Greyhound of a Girl were quite testing.
Mr Thompson said the ordinary level exam had no real surprises and was very well put together, with the reading extract appropriate for students at this level.
Ms Henehan said the foundation level exam’s reading piece about Victorian children may have been strange to many foundation level students, but a good range of essay topics included favourite places and a conversation between a parent and a child about not being allowed to go out.
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