JUNIOR CERT MATHS:THERE WERE smiles all round for Junior Cert students yesterday as they sat down to higher – and ordinary – maths exams described as "standard at both levels".
“They were very pleased with the higher-level paper,” said Bríd Griffin of the Teachers Union of Ireland. “The statistics question was straightforward and there was no challenge in the trigonometry.”
The only sticky question cropped up in the section on area and volume. “The last part was a little bit challenging but should have been no trouble to students looking for an A grade,” said Ms Griffin.
Of the 56,289 students taking maths in the Junior Cert yesterday, roughly half took the subject at higher level. In recent years the numbers continuing to take higher level to Leaving Cert have dropped to one in five. It is hoped the introduction of the project maths syllabus, combined with bonus CAO points for minimum grades at higher level, will encourage more students to stay with the subject at higher level.
