Higher level Junior Cert students were able to choose from a wide range of essays, said Ms Maire Ni Laoire, ASTI subject representative and a teacher in Scoil Mhuire gan Smal, Blarney, Co Cork. Question 2, which featured a conversation about the National Lottery, was topical, she noted. Students in her school were happy with the questions following the reading comprehension about Apollo 13.
The ordinary level paper contained no surprises. Although it was predictable it was also topical with Michelle Smith and Michael Collins making an appearance, said Ms Ni Laoire. And the illustrations were very clear.
Both higher and ordinary level students listen to the same tape for the listening comprehension but the questions differ. Some students bad a little difficulty with the Ulster dialect but most were happy with it.
Ms Mary Enright, Irish teacher at Kilmuckridge Vocational College, Co Wexford, said that there was great satisfaction with both ordinary and higher level papers.
There were no surprises and topics were all within the range of the students.
With regard to the higher level paper, she said that part (b) of question 2 was quite wordy and confusing. Overall, she said that the topics were stimulating enough.
At ordinary level, there was no fault to be found with the paper, said Ms Enright. It was very student centred for that age group.