Testing paper which left some struggling for their As and Bs

Leaving Certificate maths/ordinary level paper 1: Over 70 per cent of Leaving Cert maths students took yesterday's "stinging" ordinary level paper, which left some students working hard for their As and Bs as the final sections featured unusually challenging questions.

Students reported a hard slog in sultry exam halls, with every last minute required to get through this testing paper.

"An interesting and quirky paper" was how Belvedere maths teacher and skoool.ie subject expert Oliver Murphy put it. "Students were really required to use their brains in this exam. Just knowing the course off by heart was not enough. This paper marked an obvious move by the examiners to change the approach to ordinary level maths in the Leaving Certificate. It's clear that those taking today's paper had to think carefully about their answers."

A question on a Pythagorean triangle tested the wits of many students and threw some off completely. It featured a mix of geometry and algebra that caught many students off guard.

"Using your brain instead of learned-by-heart formula is the future of maths in Ireland," said Mr Murphy, who was pleased with the new direction of the ordinary level paper.

Andy Carolan, TUI subject expert for maths, felt that many of the questions had a sting in the tail, as the final parts of section C in each section threw up some knotty problems for students reaching for the highest grades.

"This was a good paper for students working towards Cs and Ds," said Mr Carolan. "Students looking for an A faced a tougher challenge."

Many students complained that they were rushing to get to the end of the paper within the 2½ hours.

Polish students may have welcomed the opportunity to convert zloty to euro in section 1. Students were also required to calculate a tax bill, work out the interest earned on savings and to estimate the time taken to roast a 2.2kg chicken.

Ordinary level maths is an increasingly popular choice for students who regard higher level as time-consuming and difficult to score high grades in. About 1,300 students were registered to sit this year's Leaving Cert foundation level exam, which was deemed fair and predictable.