This year’s higher-level junior cycle maths paper was a paper of two halves, teachers have said.
Niall Duddy, a teacher at Presentation College Athenry and ASTI subject representative, said that the paper was largely accessible, but there was a sting in the tail with some of the later questions.
“Question 12c, on patterns and sequences, asked about shaded and non-shaded areas of a square, which students may not have come across in the past,” he said.
“Then, question 13c, which asked about a roof n the shape of an isoceles triangle, may have been challenging for some, though it was an application of what we covered in class.”
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Mr Duddy, however, was critical of the ongoing absence of a marking scheme for students.
“They don’t know what each question is worth, which is off-putting for students,” he said.
“There is also a lack of choice on the paper, and this is an ongoing issue for teachers of many second-level junior cycle subjects.”
Stephen Begley, Studyclix.ie subject expert and head of maths at Dundalk Grammar School, said that the higher level paper was dynamic in ways, although overall a candid, fair and balanced exam.
“The usual suspects of statistics, coordinate geometry, trigonometry and area & volume came out in force throughout the paper, which are emerging as trendy each year,” he said.
“Shorter questions on probability, algebra, patterns, sets and financial maths would have delighted most.
“Students would have entered the paper greeted by some standard and straight forward questions from one to six. These looked at probability, statistics, financial maths and arithmetic, sets and nets. This would have certainly eased some nerves and got students comfortable and confident.”
The paper was not without challenges, however.
“Notable parts that students would have found challenging were Q7(c) where students had to work backwards using algebra (or trial and error) to find the dimensions of a cuboid, something that was [like a ] Leaving Cert higher-level question in 2021,” Mr Begley said.
Notable absences from the paper included geometry, distance and constructions, although functions appeared for the first time on the paper, Mr Begley said.
Ordinary level
Mr Begley said the ordinary level paper was fair, with some good questions and challenges for students to showcase their knowledge.
“Students would have been happy to see two constructions on the paper along with two typical algebra questions,” he said.
“The context and diagram for the trigonometry question may have caused some initial shock for some, but if students followed the question prompts they would have gotten through it. “Overall, it was a fair exam.”
Try this one at home: Junior cycle maths, higher level
Q4
Ciara is making an orange drink. The orange drink is made by mixing concentrate and water. The ratio of concentrate to water is 1 ∶ 4.
a) Ciara makes 15 litres of the orange drink. Work out how many litres of concentrate Ciara uses to make the drink.
b) Ciara sells glasses of the orange drink for €𝟎·𝟐𝟎 each. Each glass contains 250 ml of the drink. She sells 10 litres altogether. The total cost was €5·50. Work out her profit as a percentage of the total cost. Give your answer correct to 1 decimal place.
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