Leaving Cert: Plenty of Larkin about for English students as standard proves pleasing

The higher-level English paper two for Leaving Certificate students was deemed fair and appropriately challenging by one teacher yesterday evening.

Other than some issues with the generic questions on the single text section, Kate Barry said she was pleased with the standard of the exam.

The poems of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin on the course would have provided a rich source of material for a question about stories linked to contemporary Ireland, she said. The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) spokeswoman also liked a question on poet Philip Larkin, which should not attract formulaic answers, and she thought questions about Robert Frost and John Montague were fine.