Exam Times Leaving Cert art:The Leaving Cert art exam sprung few surprises yesterday and both students and teachers were happy with the papers, described as "straightforward" and "along predicted lines".
Almost 10,500 students were sitting the art exam yesterday, the last of four papers. Almost 80 per cent of the papers taken are at higher level. Among candidates, almost two-thirds are female.
In May, art students undertook exams in drawing, painting and crafts. Yesterday's papers tested their knowledge of art history and the exam accounts for 150 of the 400 marks on which both higher and ordinary level students are graded.
Mary Kavanagh of the Teachers Union of Ireland, and a teacher in Ardee community school, said "both papers were very fair and the students were more than delighted by the great range of accessible questions offered".
She was pleased with the higher-level paper, which she said was direct and was not seeking to catch students out with tricky questions. It was visually accessible and it clearly stated what information the examiners were expecting.
Higher-level students were offered "excellent" and "easy" questions about Jack Yeats, Donatello and Raphael. They were also given "ample opportunity to discuss art that they understood and appreciated," Ms Kavanagh said.
The ordinary level exam was clearly laid out and students were pleased with the choice of questions they were offered.
Ms Kavanagh added: "The ordinary level paper covered expected areas in a very fair way and if the students have done their study, they should be well rewarded."
There was a slight surprise in the ordinary level exam. Two of the questions on period art combined different ages.
In past years questions on the Bronze and Iron Ages have been kept separate, but on yesterday's exam they were combined. High and late Christian art was examined in the same way.
"These questions were presented in an unexpected way but it shouldn't have posed students any serious problems," Ms Kavanagh continued.
"The questions offered clear visual representations of the eras that students were asked to describe."
