The design and communications graphics paper was demanding but fair, according to Michael Horan, ASTI subject representative and a teacher at St Brigid's Secondary School in Killarney, Co Kerry.

“All questions were well-structured in a sequential manner, with basic knowledge and concepts of the topics tested at the beginning of each question, moving on to more difficult and challenging parts as the questions progressed. This was very evident in questions featured in Section B and Section C at higher level,” he said.

Students would have been very happy with a well-pitched set of short questions including the surface development of curved metal shade for a set of traffic lights, he said.

Higher level students were asked to construct drawings around objects such as a sculpture celebrating the seafaring adventures of Brendan the Navigator and the intersecting triangular glass surfaces of a McDonald’s restaurant.

Ordinary level students constructed designs including a USB memory key, a cooker hood and a deck chair, and the paper was well received by all students, said Mr Horan.

About 5,600 students sat the design and communication graphics papers, just 676 of them female students.