The Junior Cert maths exams stayed true to the form of recent years, with clear and manageable papers at all levels.
The higher-level students at St Paul's Community College, Waterford, were very pleased with their paper as they left the exam hall, teacher Thomas O'Connor said.
"It was a straightforward paper, no real surprises - students really got a chance to show what they knew, there were no catches or confusion, so most people should have been quite pleased with it."
Questions 2, 4 and 5 were all "quite nice", he said. Students might have found question 6 on logs a little off-putting at first, he said, but those who worked right through each of its sections should have found it manageable.
The ordinary-level and foundation-level papers were well laid out, O'Connor said, and students should have found the questions quite approachable.
"Both teachers and students were pleased with the ordinary- and foundation-level papers. They followed roughly the same questions as other years and there was plenty for the students to do."
The students in Bishopstown Community School in Cork were particularly happy with the ordinary-level paper, teacher Maria Kelly said. "Question 1 part (i) was a lovely start. It's very important that the first question is very familiar, particularly at ordinary level, and this question got them settled in quickly."
All of the questions were well graded and students were "almost led by the hand" through each stage of the question, she said. The exam was very fair and unambiguous, she said, and relevant to the material the students would have prepared. "Hopefully the day is gone when exams were out to trick people," she said.
Cammie Gallagher, maths teacher in St Jarlath's College in Tuam, Co Galway, said the general reaction from his students was also positive. "The higher-level paper posed very little problem. Students were very happy with the ordinary-level paper which followed the same pattern as previous years and the foundation level was also very fair," he said.
"Most students should have been fine. Let's hope it stays that way for the second paper on Monday," he said.
