VIDEO: STATE EXAMS: Bhí sé go maith, say students after ‘challenging’ paper
More than half of the 47,000 people entered for examination in Gaeilge took the ordinary level papers, with a comprehension piece on golfer Rory McIlroy featuring in paper 2.
Both this and an article about Hillary Clinton’s run for the White House were deemed suited to ordinary level by Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokesman Robbie Cronin.
He said the prose section was interesting because the same two stories as last year were examined: Oisín i dTír na nÓg and Hurlamaboc.
Mr Cronin reported some students thought this sneaky, but he said the questions themselves were fair, as were those on the poems An tEarrach Thiar and Mo ghrá-sa (idir lúibíní).
His Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) counterpart Ruth Morrissey said questions on the comprehension pieces were very clear and straightforward, and she considered the Clinton piece particularly current.
Although both prose pieces were examined last year, she said students are expected to study all prescribed stories. She welcomed the way the question on Oisín i dTír na nÓg was broken into five parts, guiding students on what exactly they needed to write about.
Ms Morrissey said the poetry questions were also very clear, although it was quite challenging to ask students to describe the scene set in the last verse of An tEarrach Thiar in their own words.
She said the higher level comprehension passage about the One Young World conference in Dublin last year was very interesting, and the questions well-phrased and challenging.
There were no surprises in questions on an interesting piece about homelessness, Ms Morrissey said.
She said students might have had difficulty elaborating on just music and football in A Thig Ná Tit Orm, but those who had studied An Triail were glad to be asked about Máire’s mother, and not just her brothers.
Overall, she felt the paper was challenging but manageable for students who had been uncertain about taking higher-level Irish.
Mr Cronin thought both comprehension pieces were topical and interesting, and said the questions about them were challenging but answerable. Most importantly he said, students who he met felt good about their performance after the exam. He thought poetry, prose and extra literature questions were all that might be expected at this level.
The poem Colscaradh, about divorce, was examined, which may not have come as a surprise to many so soon after the same-sex marriage referendum.
Mr Cronin said questions on the film Cáca Milis would have been seen as quite easy, concluding a paper he described as excellent.
In the afternoon, 34,000 biology students were examined and there was negative feedback from students who gave their views of the exam on Twitter. The higher-level exam was described by TUI’s Paula Moriarty as quite a nice paper for any well-revised candidate. She thought some questions required students to apply their knowledge to unfamiliar situations, but careful reading of them would have meant they should manage the tasks.
The ordinary level paper was taken by around 5,000 students, and Ms Moriarty said the questions were clear and were well pitched at a suitable standard. This meant well-prepared students should have done well.
Twitter revealed more exam woes and wonder yesterday, as week two of the Junior and Leaving Certificate continued:
That's two years of biology down the drain .... #leavingcert
— thomas (@_thomassssssss) June 9, 2015
Its far too nice out to be sitting in a library till 5 o'clock doing a biology exam😭 hurry up Thursday☀
— Saoirse Jennings (@saoirse_97) June 9, 2015
There was words i never saw in that, don't think I've ever seen a tadpole in my life never mind feeding them iodine solution #biology
— RianDoyle (@RianDoyle97) June 9, 2015
Biology was tough but at least now I know that caterpillars and butterflies aren't in competition with each other #leavingcert
— Patrick Dooner (@PatrickDooner) June 9, 2015
Lads I never ever have to speak,read or write Irish ever again 🙌🙌
— kelsey (@party0ngarth) June 9, 2015
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