Below is a review of the Leaving Certificate Higher Level Music paper.  By Fiona McManus, teacher at The Institute of Education.

Higher Level

Overall both the composing and listening music papers were fair.  The style of questioning was consistent with previous years, with no huge challenges for students.  Apart form some tricky ‘cadences’ and the use of ’syncopation’ in the harmony question, the composing paper was manageable.  No surprises on either paper.

Below is a review of the Leaving Cert Agricultural Science Paper, by Donal Power teacher at The institute of Education.

Higher Level

The paper focused mainly on agricultural sections and had very little on pure biology. Overall the paper was fair and students had good choice of questions. As usual students need to have a good knowledge and understanding of the whole course to do well. Some questions came up that have not been asked for a long time eg, Q6d  Q1a, b.

Ordinary Level

The ordinary level paper was straight forward with no surprises

Higher Level

Unsurprisingly, it was an extremely topical paper.  In general the questions were accessible, but challenging.

Current issues were highlighted in the short questions where; water charges, government ability to increase consumer spending and unemployment appeared.  Long questions featured, the effect of decreasing the minimum wage, the impact of carbon taxes and unemployment.

The exam required students to have worked on the syllabus and have kept abreast of current public discourse, ex the nationalisation of banks.

Students that focussed exclusively on the defined syllabus would have found this paper very challenging.

Students were pleased to see question related to Elasticity, National Income and Market Structure.  However, only 2.5 questions related to micro economics, which may have disappointed students.

Ordinary Level

As expected a fair paper.

Higher Level

A long and taxing paper.

Students were presented with a  full question on taxation, in addition a knowledge of different tax implications was required for a further 4 questions.

The paper was certainly topical; nationalisation of banks, export led growth, performance of the Irish economy, increased emigration and the IMF all being examined.

Surprisingly, NAMA did not appear, many students would have researched this topic independently.  This would have disappointed students as would the fact that only 2.5 questions related to micro economics.

An applied knowledge of economics was essential for this paper.  Attempting this paper would be an interesting exercise for some of our government ministers.

Ordinary level

Uncomplicated and in line with previous years papers.

Below is a review of the Leaving Certificate Higher Level Chemistry paper 2010.  By Tara Lyons, Chemistry Teacher at The Institute of Education.

Accuracy and precision were key to the Chemistry paper.

There was nothing unexpected in Section A – the experiments. The three experiments that appeared were as anticipated, although question 3 was long.

In Section B, there was the usual emphasis on Organic Chemistry.  Hesses law appeared again in Q6, rewarding candidates that had worked on past papers. Q7 featured a chemical equation that many candidates may not have been familiar with, although the related questions were approachable.  Q9 included the only ‘three step synthesis’ mentioned in the syllabus.  This is the first time this aspect of the course has appeared on the exam.

Below is a review of the Higher and Ordinary level Chemistry papers.  By Arnold Edge, chemistry Teacher at The Institute of Education.

Higher:

A good standard paper with a few robust questions.  Perhaps too many ‘hot’ spots to be a ‘cool’’ chemistry paper! The balance and scope of the paper ensured that the candidates seeking the top grade would require a through understanding of the entire syllabus, and the ability to apply that knowledge under challenging conditions.

Experimental ‘Section A’ was predictable enough and it would not surprise me if many students selected all three practical questions thus expanding their choice in Section B. Q3 tested students’ ability to analyse significant amounts of data.

It was good to see the continued return of electrochemistry, a considerable topic which has been largely ignored over the years.

Students with mathematical flair were glad to see the topic of ‘equilibria’ afforded a full calculation question rather than the descriptive half question which appeared last year.

Organic Chemistry covered nearly 4 full questions and the synthesis question represented a good test of the student’s overall grasp of key organic topics.

Ordinary
The Ordinary level paper mixed questions that were appropriate for this level and those that were pitched at the upper end of the required standard.  The exam has persisted in setting a level of knowledge that may dissuade less able students from gaining an interest in Chemistry.

Below is a review of the Leaving Certificate Spanish Higher Paper.  By Maggie Fernandez, Spanish Teacher at The Institute of Education

A very fair paper.  The subject of electric cars appeared on the comprehension piece, and the opinion piece allowed students plenty of scope for expression.  1 / 2 elements of the dialog section caused some students difficulty, however most students were able to work around these.

The Aural component of the exam was very well paced.

Overall a happy bunch of Spanish students…..