Leaving Cert technical drawing: paper I:  The technical drawing paper, which has a reputation for being unpredictable, presented few surprises yesterday.

Almost 6,000 Leaving Certificate students took technical drawing this year, the vast majority - about 5,500 - being male.

Teachers said some students taking the higher-level paper may have been hard-pressed time-wise to complete the exam but capable ordinary-level students should have had no real problems.

Pat O'Dwyer of the Teachers Union of Ireland, who teaches at Kenmare Community School, said question 4 in the higher- level paper could have presented difficulties.

"There was too much work in it - it could have been made much simpler. Students had to carefully select their four questions if they wanted to finish the exam," he said.

John O'Sullivan of the Asti said both ordinary and higher-level papers were fair and "there was sufficient scope for candidates of varying abilities".

He stressed that while some students may have been concerned about the difficult nature of some parts of questions, "it's important to realise that the bulk of marks awarded are for the straightforward questions".

Some ordinary-level students may have been thrown by question five, said Mr O'Dwyer, which pictured a pyramid on an apex.

"The pyramid was upside down. A lot of them wouldn't have seen that before."

Students who sat the ordinary-level technical drawing exam were "absolutely delighted" with the paper while higher-level students "seemed happy enough", said Mr O'Sullivan.