Jagged edges and smudgy lines gave Junior Cert students at ordinary-level a hard time yesterday. TUI subject representative Mr Pat Conway said ordinary-level students had to contend with smudgy, unclear diagrams unlike higher-level students. "It's not fair on the students, they should get a clear picture." A lot of the weaker students rely heavily on the diagrams, he explained. Otherwise the ordinary-level questions were fair and straightforward.

At higher-level, the lay-out was very good, with clear diagrams. One "slight problem" is that recognition of the electronic symbols in question 18, section A, is not on the syllabus. Although this is an optional question it narrowed the choice for students. But everything else in that section was quite clear and relevant. Section B was very fair.

Mr Brendan Joyce, spokesman for the Materials Technology and Graphics Teachers' Association, said students were very pleased with the higher-level paper. But, ordinary-level was a little too difficult for weaker students.