Leaving Cert: Agricultural Science: Apart from one unrecognisable thistle, Leaving Certificate Agricultural Science students were content with yesterday's higher level paper. It was a long exam that tested a broad knowledge of rural and scientific topics, but students deemed it fair.
"The paper put diagrams and photos to good use, apart from a thistle that looked a lot like a fern," an ASTI subject expert, Mr Peter Keaney, said.
"There was also a tricky question on introducing seed mixture without ploughing in Question 5. In question 7 the term "non-homogenous chromosomes" might have been unfamiliar to students. Apart from these small points, however, the paper was fine."
The number of students taking agricultural science was slightly up, to 3,372 this year. The rise is attributed to a rule change that allowed students to combine biology and agricultural science for the first time.
The current syllabus has been around since the 1960s and does not cover many modern farming practices or alternative rural enterprises. A new syllabus is currently under consideration.
"The syllabus needs to reflect modern rural enterprise such as horse and deer farming," Mr Keaney said. He considered yesterday's ordinary level paper to be "quite difficult, with some very specific questions".
