It was smiles all around as relieved Leaving Certificate students finished their first day of exams on a high note. Both ordinary and higher-evel English papers were well received by students and teachers.

Mr Colm McKernan, an English teacher at CBS Youghal, Co Cork, said: "The ordinary-level paper one was very balanced and fair. The questions were well structured and the essays couldn't have been better. The lads were very happy."

They were equally pleased with the afternoon's offering. "We concentrated on Brian Friel's Philadephia Here I Come. It was a play they enjoyed doing and they should have enjoyed the questions." Poetry is usually the most difficult section, he noted, but there was plenty of choice, with questions on Shakespeare's sonnets, Hopkin's Felix Randal and Kanavagh's Canal Bank Walk.

Ms Majella Deasy, an English teacher at St Thomas's Community College, Bray, Co Wicklow, echoed Mr McKernan's praise of the ordinary-level papers. She said the first paper was fair, with a very topical prose passage. There was a millennial feel to the paper, she said, with the essay Changes I would like to see in the next century and the prose passage entitled Back to the future means back to the Middle Ages. Why mankind is looking towards the 21st century with one eye fixed firmly on the 14th century.

Paper two was "delightful", said Ms Deasy. "One student came out of the exam and said everything was there on the paper. It was really student-friendly, a clever paper, with no tricks and a very comprehensive range of questions."

However ASTI subject representative Ms Sheila Parsons was less enthusiastic. She said the essay questions were "satisfactory if not particularly exciting" while the unprescribed prose was very difficult especially for weaker students. "The questions were evaluative which made it difficult for them. Students at this level generally prefer information-type questions with factual answers. It was one of the more difficult papers in recent times." Paper two was predictable and satisfactory but students who were relying on the Anglo-Irish poet might have found Kavnagh's poem difficult.

Mr Willie Lawlor, also an ASTI subject representative, described the ordinary-level papers as "traditional". The choice of essays was "generous and appropriate for that level. The prose, which dealt with New Age beliefs was topical and the questions were straight forward." The afternoon's paper was fair.

At higher level, Ms Parsons, who teaches in the Holy Faith De la Salle College, Skerries, Co Dublin, said there was a good selection of essays. "The prose was difficult. There was a full question on mood and atmosphere and another on style. Paper two was predictable and fair, she added. Higher-level paper one was a "fine paper" said Mr McKernan with a reasonable essay choice. Students were equally pleased with the afternoon's literature paper, with plenty of choice.

Ms Deasy said the higher-level essays were interesting and open. The most popular title appeared to be friendship, which was topical for students leaving school. Other essays also dealt with current issues, like stress - topics the students would have considered recently, she said. However the essay which posed the question Poetry - an outdated art form? was "challenging and only for the really good student". The prose was a "highly ornate and atmospheric piece" accompanied by two "very straight-forward contextual questions and two questions on style."

Paper two was very fair, she said, with no shocks and and was a good start to the first day of exams. "The questions on Mac- beth and Lady Macbeth were fine as was the question on imagery in the play. There were two very wide questions on Philadelphia." Clarke came up as everybody had hoped, she added.

Mr Lawlor agreed: "Students who prepared well should have had few complaints."