The Leaving Certificate business studies papers were yesterday described as one of the fairest examinations to date by teachers who described both levels as balanced yet challenging.

Short answer questions on the higher level paper, whereby students had to explain the terms such as entrepreneurship and privatisation, outline two functions of the Director of Consumer Affairs and define ethical business practice, were welcomed as fair and relevant exam topics.

The written essay section again drew on topical and predictable themes such as the terms of the Unfair Dismissals Act, the impact of inflation and interest rates on business in Ireland and the impact of the Common Agriculture and Competition Policy.

David Duffy, an exam spokesman for the Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland (BSTAI) and a teacher in St Mac Dara's Community College in Templeogue, Dublin, said both the higher and ordinary papers proved fair, balanced and predictable.

"The exams followed previous years and didn't contain any surprises . . . the question on how changes in the international economy impact on Irish businesses was a nice question which students would have expected," Mr Duffy said.

Popular themes of management and marketing also appeared, much to the relief and satisfaction of teachers and students alike according to Joseph Gallagher, a Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) representative and teacher in St Eunan's College in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

While the questions were generally very specific in their detail, Mr Gallagher said most students would have preferred to deal with direct and specific tasks as opposed to general ambiguous questions. "Over the last few years, the papers have been very fair and a lot of the students are saying that this one was one of the fairest papers yet this year."

Only a small number of exam elements, such as the use of the unfamiliar term "authorised share capital" and the absence of a traditional question on business organisations, would have momentarily distracted students, according to William Murphy, a Business Studies teacher in the Institute of Education in Dublin.

The ordinary level paper was equally popular with questions from previous exam papers reappearing. While the paper would have enabled students to obtain high grades, it would have also have helped weaker students, said Mr Duffy of the BSTAI.

Finnish, Swedish, Portuguese and Danish were also examined at Leaving Cert level yesterday.

Try this at home: Leaving Cert business

Section 3: People in Business

- "The relationship between an enterprise and its stakeholders may be competitive or co-operative." Discuss this statement, with appropriate examples.

- Outline the categories of industry in the Irish economy. In the case of one of these, describe its contribution to the economy.

- Describe the impact of inflation and interest rates on business in Ireland.

- Explain the term "EU directive" and the effect of one of them on Irish business.

Business in Action

Excerpt: "Paula and Thomas have recently returned to Ireland, having worked with transnational companies for 10 years. They wish to set up in business together in Ireland manufacturing a range of new organic breakfast cereals.

"Paula has particular expertise in production and finance and Thomas in marketing and human resources."

Q: Draft a business plan for this proposed new business using five main headings . . .

Q: In time, Paula and Thomas intend to expand the business into the EU market.

(i) Describe the implications for the business of expansion.

(ii) Explain two methods of expansion you would advise them to consider.