Algebra dominates Higher Level maths paper in Leaving Cert

Higher level maths students faced an algebra-dominated paper without any financial maths, but it was easier and shorter than their mock exams, teachers say.

Aidan Roantree, senior maths teacher at the Institute of Education in Dublin, said the lack of a financial maths question on paper one - for the second year in a row - should not be cause for complacency.

“Remember what happened last year: Financial maths made an unwelcome appearance on paper-two on the Monday morning,” he warned.

Rebecca Donnelly, a higher-level Leaving Cert Maths student at Jesus and Mary Secondary, Enniscrone, Co Sligo, said that was really happy with how section A turned out and she got it done in good time.

“Question 7 and 8 were a bit harder but I answered most of them regardless.

"I was surprised to see no financial maths at all but I was kind of happy to focus more on algebra and calculus which are my strengths.

I’m pretty happy with it overall, but more nervous about paper two now which is bound to be harder than that.

Bríd Griffin, maths spokeswoman for the Teachers' Union of Ireland, said that the paper was "fairly well received" by the students she has spoken to: "Most of the usual topics were covered and the questions were very clear and concise."

Ms Griffin said Question 7, which focused on sequences and series, may have eaten up a large amount of time for some students but that Question 9, which focused on area, volume and geometry, gave students the chance to claw back any lost minutes: "Overall, there was no surprise. There were some challenges but a good student would have been well able to handle it."

The Ordinary Level Paper was also "clear and concise", Ms Griffin said: "One or two students had a mixed reaction to the wording of some questions.

"They didn't know what they were being asked for but, overall, there was nothing too out of the ordinary."

Eamonn Toland, founder of TheMathsTutor.ie, said the ordinary level paper did not contain any major surprises: “There were no major challenges for the well-prepared student, although there were some rather wordy questions.

"Real world scenarios involved a camogie player, the horsepower of engines, and monetisation of a website."

Principal, Kathleen Lowney with Leaving Cert students, Mary Coffey and Aisling O'Sullivan at Ballincollig Community School. Picture: Jim Coughlan

Record numbers of students continue to study higher-level maths, with 21,024 of 56,028 (37.5%) students taking the paper.

Earlier, approximately 24,609 students sat the Leaving Cert geography paper.

The higher-level exam was strongly focused on environmental issues, teachers said, while many favourite topics cropped up.

Studyclix.ie founder Luke Saunders, a Geography teacher at Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Enniscrone, Co Sligo, said students will have been pleased to see that there were no big surprises: “All three options in the physical geography section had no surprises for any student who had looked at previous years papers.

"Overall the paper, particularly the geoecology option, would have had questions that most students would be well prepared for.”

Laura O'Sullivan, a teacher at Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí, Bantry, West Cork, said the ordinary level geography paper was straightforward: “There were no unapproachable questions.

"Question 11 was somewhat topical in that it looked at internet access in Irish households, and students were asking to analyse a graph here.

"Overall, it was a fair and wide-ranging paper with lots of choice for students.”