The Junior Cert geography exam received a very mixed reaction yesterday, particular at higher level, where it was described variously as "very good" and "very tough".

Joe Whyte of Scoil Muire Gan Smal in Blarney, Co Cork, was very happy with the paper.

"It was well laid-out and the language was such that it was easy to interpret."

There were lots of interesting and topical questions he said, particularly question 1 (c) which had sections on reducing military spending and the cancellation of debt for developing countries.

Questions 4 and 5 were to be particularly commended, he said. "These were very good skills-based questions which don't just depend on rote memory."

The illustrations accompanying the short questions were a great stimulus and "proved very relevant", he said. His students were all "very pleased" with the paper.

However, John Mulcahy, who teaches at Bishopstown Community School in Cork, thought it was a very tough paper.

"It was very searching and there was an awful lot asked. Each question had three separate parts and some had further subsections."

About 80 per cent of students sit the higher-level geography paper, so it encompasses students with a wide range of abilities, Mulcahy said. "There's an incredible amount of writing. Each question fills a page - only the very able students would get high marks in this paper."

A number of teachers complained that question 1 on the higher-level paper was particularly difficult. Mulcahy said that though it was quite hard, the material is covered on the syllabus. However, he said, most teachers would have left the area until the end of the year.

The ordinary-level paper was more straightforward, Mulcahy said. The students in Scoil Muire Gan Smal were also very happy with this paper, Whyte said.