Papers go down well despite some 'niggles'

The traditional Leaving Certificate Maths Paper 2, at both higher and ordinary levels, went down well with students.

Elaine Devlin, of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and De la Salle College, Dundalk, described higher level as 'fair' and said the first few questions were 'very doable'.

'The average to better-than-average student will do very well, although some niggly parts will make it challenging to get an A1,' she added.

In question 4, she hopes that students will get marks for recognising Pythagorean triplets.

Brid Griffin, of the Teachers' Union of Ireland and Carlow Institute of Education, also thought question 4 (c) was a challenge and 'took a while to work out'.

But she said the paper was 'well received and along predicted lines'.

Both teachers drew attention to question 8. Ms Devlin said part (c) was very challenging, while Ms Griffin said students were asked to answer the question in a particular way, rather than being given an opportunity to use their analytical skills.

Aidan Roantree, of The Institute of Education, said candidates were 'surprised and delighted' at what was generally considered the easiest Paper 2 in the recent past.

'The least popular question was question 6 as it contained a proof that was not expected and the (c) part of the question was tricky.'

Christina Kennedy, of ASTI and Seamount College, Kinvara, Co Galway, said the ordinary-level paper was very fair and most students preferred it to the first maths paper.

Questions 2 and 3 on co-ordinate geometry were well received and the fact that students were given the formulae for those questions made them accessible.

She said well-prepared students should have sailed through question 11.

Testing

Jean Kelly, of the Institute of Education, Dublin, said the ordinary-level paper was universally appreciated by students.

'There was very little to challenge or confuse. Candidates were given the building blocks for each question, although that meant there was little scope for the A-grade students to demonstrate their ability to apply extraneous mathematical knowledge.'

At ordinary level, Ms Griffin said there was a mixed reaction from students, with questions 1 and 3 (c) 'quite testing'.

- Katherine Donnelly

Irish Independent