Students like upbeat tone and questions

Junior Certificate Spanish and Metalwork: Zidane, Ronaldo and the bull run at Pamplona made up some of the questions on yesterday's Junior Certificate Spanish exam. Higher-level students enjoyed the paper's upbeat tone and interesting subject matter.

Like the Leaving Certificate paper, there was a comprehension section looking at the growing popularity of the Spanish language. A question on the Tomatina festival of tomatoes was described by students as "fun". The aural was considered fair.

Ordinary-level students were also happy to see questions on subjects that interested them such as the Beckham family and Leyton Hewitt. The numbers entered to sit yesterday's exam were slightly up on last year, at 3,042.

Over 8,000 students sat yesterday's metalwork exam. "The questions on practical projects were very appealing," said TUI expert Mr Willie Culkeen. "Students should have been well prepared from the work they did in class. There was an excellent choice of questions which should have provided options for most students," he said.

The ordinary level paper was "simple" and "nicely presented" with a series of multiple choice questions that most students should have found accessible, said Mr Culkeen, who teaches in Ballinrobe Community School.