THE WELL prepared Leaving Cert student, who had worked through past papers, should have had little difficulty with paper 1 of technical drawing, according to teachers.

Mr Philip O'Callaghan, ASTI subject representative and a teacher in CBS Naas, Co Kildare, said the ordinary and higher level papers were "similar in style and standard to previous papers".

At higher level, there were no major surprises. Question 1 was time-consuming, he noted. But, overall, higher level students in his school were quite happy leaving the exam hall.

Mr Philip McLaughlin, TUI subject representative, said that higher level students might find it difficult to get the four questions completed in the time allotted. Otherwise, the paper was fair and there should be no complaints, he said. Question 4 was probably the most difficult on the paper, but it was not out of the ordinary.

Unusually, the most difficult part of question 7 - showing the cut surface DEF in plan and elevation - was contained in part (a). Some students may have been discouraged and not proceeded to the final part, which is where the most difficulty is usually encountered, said Mr McLaughlin, who teaches in Carndonagh Community School, Co Donegal. These quibbles aside, it was a reasonable paper, he said.

At ordinary level, Mr O'Callaghan said students were pleased with the paper. Question 6, the conics question, can sometimes cause problems but this year it was relatively straightforward, he added.

Mr McLaughlin agreed that it was a fair paper. The questions were clear and the standard was reasonable, he said.