‘No gremlins’: Live reaction to today’s Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle exams

• And they’re off … tens of thousands of students have started on day four of the State exams
• Leaving Cert: maths paper 2 (9.30-12.00pm) and Irish paper one (2-4.20pm)
• Junior Cycle: science (9.30-11.30am) and business studies (1.30-3.30pm)
• ‘I’ve one exam left … already I feel very grown-up and responsible’: Our student diarist Leah O’Callaghan is relieved to be on the home stretch

Leaving Cert maths paper two: ‘Overwhelmingly positive’ response from students’

My colleague Éanna Ó Caollaí has filed a detailed reaction piece to both the higher level and ordinary level maths papers.

The consensus is that both paper were fair and accessible, with enough challenges to differentiate between high-performing candidates.

You can read his piece here – and it has links to both exam papers.

‘Well received’: Reaction to Junior Cycle science (common level)

This year’s Junior Cycle science paper was “reasonably fair and well received,” according to Liam Hennelly, a science teacher at Belvedere College in Dublin and subject expert for Studyclix.

“The content of the questions in section A was very fair and accessible. It would have allowed students to settle into the paper and to pick up a lot of marks in this section,” he said.

“It focused mainly on physics with 5/10 questions. There were three questions on biology and two questions on Earth and space with no question on chemistry in this section. As expected, section B of the paper was more challenging,” Hennelly said.

“Section B contained 7 questions worth 30 marks and a recurring theme in these questions is that topics from the different strands of the specifications were interwoven into the questions.”

Overall, Hennelly said this was an “accessible and reasonably fair” paper that would have been well received.

“However, the balance of the questions across the five strands could have been better. The lack of choice in the paper and the lack of challenge for more able students with one Common Level paper continues to be an issue,” he said.

‘Many will feel their work paid off’: Reaction to Leaving Cert maths paper two, ordinary level

Students were largely happy with today’’s higher level maths paper — and the same seem to be true of the ordinary level paper.

Jean Kelly, a maths teacher with the Institute of Education, said students will “feel a reassuring sense of resolution as their work paid off.”

She said the questions drew from well-worn material that students will have covered countless times in the run up to their examinations.

“Those who worked through the sample paper will recognise the nearly identical Q3 (B) and Q4 (C). The questions were short and to the point, leaving no room to get lost in lengthy workings. Some will have felt that the paper led their hand through the material in a way that would be reassuring,” she said.

Kelly said there were questions asked on “everything”, even the rarely-seen sets, which made its third appearance in 14 years.

“Despite the breadth of the material, the questions were snappy and neatly itemized so students could deal with each bit individually,” she said.

“While some parts were heavy in Statistics and Probability, students will be relieved that their archnemesis trigonometry made only a quick appearance.

Overall, she said the students sitting this paper knew exactly what they were being asked to do and should have left with a clear appraisal of how they performed, with many happy that they have secured what they need for their courses.

“All in all, a good resolution to their time with Leaving Cert ordinary level maths,” she said.

Stephen Begley, head of maths at Dundalk Grammar School and Studyclix subject expert, agreed that paper two was “welcoming, fair and doable paper for students”.

“Most students seemed quite content on leaving the exam hall on what was a candid exam at ordinary level,” he said.

“Most questions were presented that the opening parts of each were very doable, while later parts provided challenge. Given the choice afforded by post-pandemic arrangements, students would have been able to play to their strengths answering four of the five short questions and three of the four long questions, a certain advantage to students.”

He said the short questions in Section A featured the usual suspects of statistics, probability, the line and circle, geometry and constructions.

“Students would have been comfortable working through these and developed a confidence going in to face the busier Section B. These questions were fairly direct and clear and didn’t contain too much text which can be an off putting feature of some exams. Students seemed content with the questions on offer here,” he said.

Section B would have delighted many students, he said, while Question 7 opened the section with a very doable and standard question on statistics, “something students would have been well prepared for”.

“A lovely trigonometry question followed which really prompted students on what to do by directly statistics ‘Use the Theorem of Pythagoras…’ or ‘Use the cosine rule…’. This question was very welcome by students. Question 9 contained a mix of topics from counting and probability, to sets and trigonometry,” he said.

“The paper closed with a volume question with a touch of converting units at the start. Students would have found this a very approachable and workable question given the formulas provided in their log tables.”

Overall, he said it was quite a “nice, fair and doable” [aper two for Leaving Cert ordinary level students.

“It really was a candid snapshot of what is covered on the course and I feel it had an excellent balance of accessibility and challenge for students,” Begley said.

‘A good mix … and no gremlins’: Reaction to Leaving Cert maths paper two, higher level

Following the warm reception to last Friday’s Leaving Cert maths paper one, there was some trepidation that maths paper two might haver a sting in the tail.

The good news is that the initial reaction from teachers is positive.

Brian Scully, maths teacher at the Institute of Education, said the higher level paper was “an accessible sibling to paper one” with a “few novel moments to distinguish those confident in different contexts”.

“Students will be pleased to find that there were no gremlins that might unfairly trip them up,” he said.

Overall, he feels it was a good mix of the causal language and novel questions that gradually increased the challenge of the paper.

He said the first question on stem leaf plots would have been familiar and recognisable as it drew from well-established material with the addition of unknown variables.

“The challenge was on the mechanical execution, not the comprehension. For example question 4 was a pure examination of curricular material rather than a test of its application,” Scully said.

“Later questions migrated to distinctly Higher Level only concepts, but the progression was logical and offered the opportunity for those students striving for H2s and H1s to distinguish themselves.”

A trend that carried over from paper one, he says, was the mixing of topics.

“Many questions tested the mental agility of students as they bridged numerous aspects of the course: sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly,” he said.

“For example, probability appeared in many questions, frequently alongside a different topic. Most of the challenges posed in these questions would be reflective of term time preparations.”

Areas consistently perceived as challenging by students, like the notation and language of Sets, were demanding in a manner that was familiar, he added.

“As such there were no additional gremlins thrown into this paper to upset the students or take this paper away from their expectations formed over their years of study,” Scully said.

The more challenging elements appeared in the less familiar moments.

Scully said the “ambiguous appearance of the sine rule and a novel question 9 might have worried some.”

The latter contained a unique diagram that required creative thinking and excellent understanding as it forced students to execute concepts in a context they will never have seen before.

“Yet, it was a trend that once students were brave enough to take that initial step into the question, their practice was rewarded by an emphasis on execution of concepts. Even the text heavy Question 10 was fair once you moved beyond the off-putting first impression.”

There was a similar reaction to the paper from Stephen Begley, head of maths at Dundalk Grammar School and a subject expert with Studyclix, though he said section B of the paper was more challenging.

“Students would have found today’s paper two busier than Friday’s Paper one – but fair and doable,” he said.

Begley said many will have found the short questions in section A very standard and reasonable, while section B’s long questions put students through their paces.

“Looking at topics covered the regular features of statistics, probability, trigonometry, geometry, the circle and the line dominated the short questions, while longer questions were based on statistics, probability, the circle, geometry and trigonometry,” he said.

Begley said students would have been comfortable working through the short questions, though would have had to think carefully through some, while the long questions certainly required some careful reading and thinking.

“The opening question to the paper replicated a Junior Cycle style question on statistics and would have eased some nerves,” he said.

“Some standard probability questions followed in question 2, while no curve balls were thrown in trigonometry on question 3. For those who studied their constructions and proofs would have been delighted with a direct question 4, and the coordinate geometry questions on the line and the circle were rather decent and approachable.”

He said the pace and intensity of the exam picked up in section B, where some “tricky bits were included to challenge students”.

“Question 7 on statistics and probability would have delighted many being similar in style to previous years. Question 8 put students through their paces for volume and geometry with a hint of calculus at the end, parts of which students may have found tricky. Questions were well prompted and if a student didn’t get one part it didn’t mean they were not able to tackle or complete subsequent parts,” he said.

Question 9, which was all about the circle and the line, required a “fair bit of careful thinking and application of their knowledge” he said.

“Really reading the questions, understanding the situation and visualising the scenarios was needed here,” he said.

“Closing the exam, Question 10 appeared with a rather busy and text loaded diagram and passage, but if students carefully read each question, it boiled down to a decent trigonometry question with some permutations at the end. Once again if a students could not complete one part to the question it did not disadvantage them in subsequent parts.”

Overall, he said the consensus was that section A was “quite nice”, while Section B was more challenging.

“At higher level we can expect some challenges and paper two had its fair and balanced amount of them,” he said.

“Much of the paper was doable, and the way in which questions were designed students were not ruled out of the race for not being able to complete a specific part, rather most questions did not require the previous answer to move forward. You can see the examiners careful consideration of this in the exams design.”

He added: “Overall, students should take comfort in the rather nice paper one from Friday alongside today’s paper and overall might agree that it was a fair, doable and approachable pair of exams.”

First look: Junior Cycle science

The exam paper for today’s common level Junior Cycle science exam has landed.

You can scroll through it below – we’ll have reaction here shortly

First look: Leaving Cert maths paper 2

The exam papers for today’s Leaving Cert higher level and ordinary maths paper are now available.

You can check them out below – we’ll have reaction here shortly.

‘I’ve one exam left … already I feel very grown-up and responsible’

Leah O’Callaghan of Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School is one of our Leaving Cert diarists.

She is sitting the Leaving Cert Applied (LCA) and is relieved that she has just one exam left: horticulture on Wednesday.

Not everyone knows what the LCA is, and it isn’t on offer in every school.

“For me, however, it was the obvious fit. I went into transition year and really enjoyed it, as there was more focus on learning through doing, and experiencing life, than you otherwise get in second-level education. I dreaded the idea of going back to intense academic study. I always knew that I learned more by doing than by learning from a book.

“At that time, I spoke to one of my teachers and she told me about the LCA, which has a greater focus on life skills and experience over pure academics.”

You can read more on her diary here.