Soccer was a welcome theme on this year's Junior Cert Spanish exam as most students had prepared material on the subject of the World Cup.

There were two options to talk about on the beautiful game – one in a question on a football camp and another featuring Madrid’s candidature for the 2020 Olympics.

More than 8,500 students took Spanish for the Junior Cert this year.

"Most Junior Certificate students came out happy from this year's exams," Susan Leahy of the King's Hospital School in Dublin said. "However, there was a set of comprehensions that would sift the top candidates out."

Ordinary level students were also very happy.

Almost 17,000 students were registered to sit this year's materials technology (wood) exam, which teacher Noel Scott described as "relevant and fairly pitched". He teaches at Loreto Community School in Milford, Co Donegal.

He welcomed a move away from what he described as “narrowly focused vocational style” questions to more student-friendly designs.

“This paper moved away from traditional tool and joint questions and featured novel questions to interest a wider range of students,” Mr Scott said. “This was a gender-equitable paper.” More than 2,000 students who took materials technology (wood) are female.

“This paper featured everyday objects that people would use such as mobile phone covers, wristwatches and remote controls,” Mr Scott added.

Completed projects

Students sitting the written paper have already completed 66 per cent of their grade through projects completed during the year.

There were some topical questions on the sustainable use of hardwood as well as a practical question on the observance of safety when using power tools.

There was a good reaction to the ordinary level paper, which was regarded as “relevant” and “nicely pitched”.