Spanish students spend more time in front of the TV than they spend in class, according to yesterday's Junior Certificate higher Spanish paper.

Irish students were very pleased with yesterday's exam according to Máire Ní Chiarba, National Chair of ASTI who teaches in Coláiste an Phiarsaigh, Glanmire, Cork. "It's great to see students so delighted and feeling that they did well," she said. In total 3,445 students took the exam.

According to Ms Ní Chiarba, the aural exam was well received by both higher and ordinary-level students - the quality of sound having improved since the exam was moved from cassette to CD.

The higher-level paper was seen as very fair. Teachers were particularly interested in a reading comprehension in section B, Q2 which dealt with the fact that students in Spain spent 990 hours a year watching TV, but only 960 hours in class.

The text section C, Q3, was described as "quite challenging" but appropriate for the level. Students taking the ordinary-level paper were also pleased. Generally, the paper presented no surprises, with questions well pitched toward students.