The State Examinations Commission has defended itself against claims that yesterday's Higher Maths Paper II was unfair, as maths teachers reported widespread distress among students who sat the exam.
Teachers have alleged that Question 1 was unnecessarily difficult and confusing, getting students off to "an unfortunate start" and that many students were "agitated" leaving exam halls.
Adding to the confusion was the fact that superintendents were supposed to read out a correction to Question 1 at the beginning of the exam.
The Irish Times has received a report that at one school the superintendent did not read out the correction until 35 minutes into the exam.
There were reports that many students in various schools spent so much time trying to figure out Question 1 that they could not properly complete the rest of the exam.
Question 8 (c), meanwhile, was actually a highly theoretical Applied Maths question that did not belong on a general Higher Maths paper, teachers alleged.
Mr Jim Healy, a teacher at Terenure College in Dublin, said: "This question was not on the course and not in the maths books for those who did not study Applied Maths, and that would be the vast majority." Higher Level Maths is taken by nearly 10,000 students, 17 per cent of the total who sit maths exams. About 1,300 students - just 2 per cent of the total - study Applied Maths.
Dr Aidan Seery, of the Institute of Education, predicted that Question 8 (c) could lead to a higher failure rate this year.
"It depends on how they tweak (the marking)," he said. Students would have been "thrown off" by Question 1, he added.
The chief examiner, who cannot be identified for security reasons, said last night that any student, teacher or parent with a complaint should make it to the commission in writing.
There were reports last night that even students who had done well in their mocks feared they had failed the exam and ruined their chances of university places. The commission moved to offer reassurance, stating: "No students will be disadvantaged by any aspect of the examinations process which is outside of his or her control."
The difficulty of the exam, will not help the reputation of maths, which is becoming so unpopular that less than one in five students take the higher-level exam.
Meanwhile, the commission - which is running the examinations for the first time - confessed last night to an error concerning the Applied Leaving Cert.
Yesterday, the commission prematurely delivered copies of today's Leaving Cert Applied (Office Administration and Customer Care) to eight schools, as well as to The Irish Times.
Students who were meant to be doing Applied Engineering received the Office Administration paper instead.
When the mistake was discovered, the commission faxed copies of the Applied Engineering exam to schools.
Today an alternative version of the Office Administration and Customer Care subject will be taken by 460 students in 36 centres.