Positive reaction to chemistry and Spanish papers
This was the view of Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland subject spokeswoman Ciara O’Shea, who said the higher and ordinary level papers were both very nice.
She said there was nothing too challenging on the higher level exam, and it was pitched at just the correct level. The students she met afterwards were pleased with the range of questions from across the course, which gave something for most to choose from.
For ordinary level students, she believed it was also quite a nice exam. Around 600 candidates were entered for the paper, and Ms O’Shea said most should not have had too much difficulty with it.
lRobbie Cronin of ASTI said the higher level Spanish exam yesterday morning had an interesting choice of reading comprehensions.
The topics varied from the production of artificial meat and its consumption to robots in space and holidaying on the cheap.
He said the dialogue question was challenging in places, and a lot of students did not know the word for scholarship, but the formal letter about technology and social networking was fair. He was pleased too with the listening test, in an exam he thought was quite positive about overall.
He said the ordinary level paper was a very good exam, and the passage with questions and answers in Spanish was appropriate for this level. However, students were confused with two questions that appeared to ask the same thing.
Elsewhere, he said, the diary and note question were as expected.
