Paper 'fair and doable' but language criticised as abstract

Junior Cert: ordinary-level maths:"Abstract nomenclature" overshadowed yesterday's ordinary-level maths exam for Junior Certs, but the numbers were fine.

"This was a fair and doable paper for students at all levels," said Maria Kelly of the TUI. "It followed the patterns of previous years almost exactly, so students had no surprises in store."

One question that unsettled some students was the graph question, which featured the lesser-spotted "minus X squared".

"Students do not like to see this fellow turning up on the exam but the fact is it's on the syllabus so they have to prepare for it," said Ms Kelly.

Teacher John Brennan suggested some of the language used, although part of the syllabus, was too abstract for the age group.