Leaving Certificate English/higher level papers 1 & 2: "Coping with the pressures of modern living" was a pertinent essay title for yesterday's Leaving Cert English students, some of whom were delayed on the way to the exams by hold-ups on the M50.

Teachers and higher-level pupils applauded the opening exam as an imaginative, challenging and consistent paper.

Pretence was the unifying theme of this year's Leaving Cert higher English paper one, and the thread continued through all three comprehensions and into the composition section.

Students were invited to consider themes as broad as ghost writing, diving in the penalty area and lying to save the feelings of others. It was "sophisticated" offering that invited creativity and personal response from students, said skoool.ie subject expert Philip Campion.

TUI subject expert Michael Byrnes also enjoyed the thematic focus of paper one which he felt was particularly relevant to teenagers.

"The paper explored the role of pretence in human relationships and the positive role that pretence can sometimes play. This is an interesting theme for this age group. Many students are currently beginning to gain an awareness of the contradictions of adult life."

The essay titles on yesterday's paper invited students to write about a range of themes including a problem of global significance, the role of romance in relationships and stress in modern life.

The afternoon paper brought joy and relief to many students who were banking on seeing their favourite poet, Elizabeth Bishop, on the exam this year. New syllabus entrant Thomas Hardy also featured along with Michael Longley and John Donne.

Paper two laid great emphasis on students' personal responses to the texts on the syllabus; rote learning of commercial exam notes would not have served students yesterday, said Mr Campion.

"The philosophy of the new English syllabus has always been on students' personal engagement with an enjoyment of syllabus materials," Mr Campion said. "Never was that more in evidence than in yesterday's paper."

Yesterday's essay questions avoided any controversial topics. There was disquiet last year when a question on road safety was featured only weeks after the Navan bus tragedy.

This year the exams paper in English explored wider world themes and they were less topical in tone.

Teachers say students who prepared an essay on issues like world hunger or the threat posed by international terrorism would have found a platform for writing on these topics.