Construction covers lots of ground while German ist sehr gut

The second week of Leaving Certificate 2014 ended with construction studies papers for more than 8,500 students yesterday evening.

John O’Donovan, subject spokesman for the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), said there was nothing unexpected on the higher- level exam.

The one thing he thought might have been unusual to candidates was that the timber-framed house in the compulsory first question had a truss roof, rather than a traditional cut roof.

He said the paper followed patterns like those of previous years, but that the higher-order thinking required in many places on the exam meant average students might have struggled to get top marks.

Students needed a good level of architectural knowledge in a question on converting a garage to a study room.

However, Mr O’Donovan thought a question about insulation was very nice. He thought the ordinary-level exam was quite manageable, and said that the drawing in the compulsory first question was fine.

A question on plumbing assessed material students should have covered quite well, he said.

However, here too, he thought that only the strongest students were likely to get the highest grades.

lThe German exams taken by 7,000 students yesterday morning were nice papers overall, ASTI subject spokesman Patrick Kavanagh said. He said there were no major surprises in either Leaving Certificate exam and well-prepared candidates should have done quite well.

He said the higher-level paper covered all topics from the syllabus, and good work over the last two years should have paid off for most students.

Mr Kavanagh said the vocabulary in the ordinary level reading questions was well-suited to students at this level, and there was nothing really unexpected on the paper.