Cork students pleased with geography and maths Paper 1 in Leaving Certificate

“THE students were tired, but happy coming out,” said North Monastery Co-educational teacher Shane Ryan after his geography students completed the honours exam in the Leaving Certificate on Friday morning.

Mr Ryan said: “I thought it was a very challenging paper for a higher level, but nothing that our lads couldn’t live up to. 

"We prepped a lot of what came up. The way the paper was laid out, there were very few combinations that we would have expected to come up,” he said.

The secondary school teacher said his students were thrilled to see certain aspects of the course come up in Friday’s paper.

“They were happy igneous rocks came up, and so did rivers which they would have prepped for. Primary and secondary economic activities also came up and they would have had that down. The essay at the end on global climates was the one that we prepped for so they were very happy with that.”

Mr Ryan said the students were however less pleased to see a question on isostasy. 

“There was a question on isostasy. This is a tough one and for a lot of my students that ruled out question one for them. It was different to last year. 

"The department however kept the new way of doing the exam, so the students only have to answer their four questions from three sections. Previously they had to do one question from each section. They found this easier.

“They have another exam done. Geography is a long exam. They were delighted they got a chance to show their stuff,” he added.

The maths Paper 1 exam was held on Friday afternoon. Ann Piggott, who teaches ordinary maths in Coláiste Éamann Rís said the students were ‘happy’ after they emerged from the exam hall.

“The students were very nervous before starting the exam, but they were quite happy emerging from the exam hall. All the students who did the honours, ordinary, and foundation paper all seemed happy,” she said.

“It is great for the students to have the first maths paper completed,” said Ms Piggott. “They now have the weekend to prepare for the second paper on Monday morning. They have half the battle done.

“Maths is always challenging so students will be pleased to have half of it completed. The students are now three days into the exams, which means they are in a routine and more confident.”