"I sought a theme and sought for it in vain." The opening line of Yeats's poem The Circus Animals' Desertion, quoted on yesterday afternoon's higher-level English paper, must have struck a chord with many of yesterday's exam candidates.

At higher-level, the essay choice in paper 1 was just adequate, said Ms Sheila Parsons, ASTI subject representative and a teacher in Skerries Community School, Co Dublin. The titles could incline students to do the essay in a discursive mode rather than an imaginative, creative manner. Mr PJ Sheehy, a teacher in CBS Arklow, Co Wicklow, said the titles were uninspiring. The prose passage was difficult, using the language of an art historian, said Mr Sheehy.

Mr John McGabhann, TUI subject representative and a teacher in Tallaght Community School in Dublin welcomed the numbering of the paragraphs in the prose passages at both higher and ordinary-level. "This broke it into manageable blocks," he said.

But, the higher-level passage itself was a "relatively unexciting piece of prose with relatively unexciting questions", he said. Questions could have been less literal and more inferential.

In the afternoon, higher-level students were faced with a difficult compulsory Hamlet question, said Mr Sheehy. Part (ii) which asked students to discuss Shakespeare's use of soliloquy would have suited students who had studied the play in abridged form. He had looked back over the papers since 1972 and there hadn't been a similar question. There had always been something on character or theme, he said.

Ms Parsons said paper 2 was difficult but acceptable. Students who were relying on the Anglo-Irish poet may have found the Yeat's question difficult, she said.

At ordinary-level, paper 1 was a "fine paper, very accessible, well pitched and with a good essay choice while paper 2 was fair and direct", said Mr McGabhann. Ms Parsons said the choice of essay at ordinary level was more exciting and the questions on the prose were stimulating. Paper 2 offered students adequate choice, she said.

Mr Sheehy said the question on paper 2, asking if Hamlet was mad, was more difficult than it seemed. "Every critic for the past 400 years has been trying to decide that question," he added.

Mr McGabhan noted that students had an additional 20 minutes to deal with the English exams and this contrasted with LCA students who had to work very hard to finish their paper in the allotted two hours.

Ms Parsons said "as a teacher and a parent I consider the length of exams students sat today was too demanding. If you want to ease the pressure you reduce the level of tasks. These exams are clustered together at the beginning. It's too exhausting for the students."