Surprisingly light topics given events of the past year

LEAVING CERT BUSINESS:YESTERDAY'S BUSINESS exam was surprisingly light on topical subjects, given the events of the past year.

However, Peter Quinn of St Flannan’s College, Ennis, Co Clare, said students who had put in the work would be pleased. “The short questions were quite easy, and overall if students had stuck to the topics over the year they should have been okay.”

However, William Murphy, teacher at the Institute of Education, warned that some of the short questions were not as straightforward as they appeared.

Question three, which asked for a definition of Fidelity Guarantee Insurance, was tricky, he said.

He also noted that examiners used a discontinued term, “Council of Ministers” in Question 10 instead of “Council of the European Union”. Students who had spent the year keeping up to date might well be thrown by this, he feared.

Marguerite Norris, chairwoman of the Dublin branch of the Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland (BSTAI) said it was a very time-intensive exam.

“To get your A, you needed all the time you could get.”

There was a wide range of topics that Quinn said would allow students to give their best performances. “Only four of the seven questions had to be answered, and none of them were hard.”

Overall, he said the paper worked well, and praised the ordinary level, which was similarly “straightforward”.

Quinn felt that in section two, the applied business question was “quite easy” – a boon for students. It featured a case study of a renewable energy supplier and was worth 80 marks altogether.

John McDonnell, of Jesus Mary Secondary School, Gortnor Abbey, Co Mayo, thought the questions were fair. “Students seemed quite happy with the exam. It was very straightforward.”

Murphy echoed these remarks: “The paper seems more specific than last year’s, less general, so my gut instinct is that it was much more doable.”

The ordinary level was also a success, he said, with no particular problems apparent. “It was similar to what came up in the past, so well-prepared students should have had no problems.”

Norris was concerned that weaker students may have had difficulty with longer questions, but agreed the paper reflected the syllabus well.

Question two (c) in section three attracted most attention. Students were asked to discuss how to use the tax system to create a positive climate for business in Ireland. McDonnell said it seemed a strange Leaving Cert question, a view echoed by most teachers.