After a tough Paper 1 in Higher Level Maths on Friday, students today have reacted very positively to their second paper.
"Paper 2 was way easier," Leona Ní Uirligha from Coláiste Chilliain in Dublin's Clondalkin told RTÉ News. Luke Ó Gogartaigh agreed. He said he was "very happy" with the paper.
Both students said while they certainly found Friday's Paper 1 to be difficult, they felt they had managed all right.
"In Paper 1 I found there was places where you could pick up easy marks, by putting numbers or letters that were in the question into formulas and you could pick up marks from that," said Leona.
"With Paper 1 it just came down to exam technique. I found that the stuff I’d studied I wasn’t able to apply so it just came down to me just looking at the question and trying to get as much marks as I could," Luke said.
Senan Ó Dubhda and Liam Mac Reamóin were also very happy with today’s Higher Level Paper 2, and their feelings around Friday’s paper too are similar.
"I was going into the exam on Friday expecting it to be difficult but what I saw was like nothing I had ever seen. It was a lot more difficult than any paper I have seen from past years," Liam said. But he feels he "coped ok".
"I think I picked up the marks I had to get to get the pass".
A difficult exam paper does not mean lower grades
Students at Coláiste an Eachréidh in Galway's Athenry were also very pleased with today’s Higher Level Maths Paper 2.
"I was quite happy with how Paper 2 went," Colin Stephens told RTÉ News.
"It went like a normal paper would. Although paper 1 was a little bit difficult and challenging it still went ok for me, but Paper 2 went more my way I reckon".
"Normally I’d be aiming for a H1 or a H2 so fingers crossed."
Conor Wilson says Paper 2 was "way better".
"Paper 1 for me it just felt like they really tried to get you to think differently. It was tough. In fairness, thinking outside the box is probably the best, but it was just a surprise".
Like many of his classmates, Conor says that after the experience of Paper 1 on Friday he was more nervous over the weekend.
"I was expecting that they would make you think outside the box again," he said. But in the end today’s paper threw up nothing that students did not expect.
"Hopefully they’ll switch up the marks now a decent bit for those harder questions," Colin said.
That’s a hope that very many other Higher Level Maths students are bound to share.
