Praise for hard but fair maths exam

Junior Cert verdicts: The dreaded "theorem" paper did not cause too much of an upset yesterday as Junior Certificate students expressed satisfaction with maths paper two.

Ms Frances Moynihan of the ASTI noted a couple of challenging questions in the areas of co-ordinate geometry and circles but judged yesterday's honours-level paper to be fair overall.

Mr Jim Healy, a skoool.ie subject expert, got different feedback from his students, who found yesterday's paper more difficult than paper one. "The geometry and trigonometry sections are a struggle for many students every year. This year's trigonometry question was tough," he said.

Some ordinary-level students had a hard job as they faced some unexpectedly advanced questions.

"There was a touch of the higher level about today's ordinary-level paper," said Ms Moynihan, who teaches at St Augustine's College, Dungarvan. "Students hoping for a C or D grade might have encountered some problems yesterday."

Meanwhile, yesterday's Junior Cert higher-level geography exam was described by most teachers as being "along expected lines".

Mr James Staunton of the ASTI said most of his students were happy with the exam, which had a good choice of questions and few surprises. The two-hour paper was demanding, involving a lot of reading and writing, he said.

"It was very nice, with a good spread of questions and presented with loads of colour," said Mr Jackie Brennan of skoool.ie. "There was not too much emphasis on memory-work, which allows students to use their geographical skills and techniques."

At ordinary level, teachers expressed disappointment at the layout of the paper, which, unlike higher level, used black and white instead of full-colour photographs.