Do business and public opinion have an effect on Leaving Certificate results? The results of this year's physics and chemistry exams would suggest that they do.
In recent years there has been constant pressure from business and industry to ensure that more young people are doing science subjects in order to meet the skills shortages in computing and engineering. Business leaders have joined politicians and parents in bemoaning the perception of physics and chemistry as "hard" subjects and the falling numbers studying them.
Although the numbers taking physics continues to fall, this year's results show a dramatic improvement. The percentage achieving the top A1 grade in the higher-level paper has more than doubled, while the proportion getting As and Bs has gone up by nearly 10 per cent.
The principal of Maynooth post-primary school, Mr Sean Ashe, a teacher of maths and physics, said the excellent results reflected a paper whose mathematical content was not so difficult. "Students got a fair opportunity to display their knowledge this year."
He said the views of teachers on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment's course committees - which are preparing new syllabuses for physics and chemistry - were "getting through to the Department".
Their belief, like that of many university and industry people, is that maths plus one science subject is not adequate to study engineering, science or computers at third level. To avoid falling behind very quickly, a student needs to have done maths, applied maths and either physics or chemistry at Leaving Cert.
Mr Matt Bermingham, a physics teacher at St Colman's College, Fermoy, said the "student-friendly" nature of this year's paper reflected "a huge change in thinking by the Department of Education". He had met inspectors during the summer who "agreed things had to change and the paper had to be made easier".
The deputy general secretary of the secondary teachers' union, ASTI, Mr John White, said: "I think the Department has taken on board the concerns and perceptions which started to appear that it was becoming too difficult to get good grades in hard-edged subjects like physics and chemistry, and this was discouraging pupils from taking those subjects."
He was most struck by the results in ordinary-level chemistry. Here 10 per cent gained A grades compared to only 2.2 per cent last year, while nearly 69 per cent gained A, B or C grades, compared to 46.5 per cent last year. The failure rate fell from 21.5 per cent to 13.6 per cent this year.
Mr Gerard O'Donoghue, a chemistry teacher at St Clement's College, Limerick, said much of this improvement could be put down to the "clear and precise" presentation of this year's paper, unlike previous years' papers which often left students confused and unsure about what was required of them. He hoped the results would encourage many students to take "ordinary level chemistry in its own right".
Mr Ashe expressed disappointment at the drop in the numbers gaining the top five grades in higher-level maths, although he was not surprised since the "part C" tail ends of this year's paper were judged difficult by students.
Results in higher-level history and geography, two papers which provoked complaints from students about their difficulty in June, contained few surprises. Slight rises in the top four grades in geography would be "reassuring to students concerned about that paper. It showed that examiners can be quite flexible with the marking scheme, allowing different variations and interpretations," said the ASTI convenor for the subject, Mr John Mulcahy of Bishopstown Community School, Cork.
There was a slight rise in the top A1 grade in history, and slight, although not statistically significant, falls in the next seven grades. However, the main concern was a fall of nearly 1,200 in the numbers taking the subject at higher and ordinary level.
Mr Willie Ruane, a teacher in St Muredach's College, Ballina, said there was a need to revamp the syllabus and an exam which demanded students to write five "essay-type" questions in three hours. A new draft syllabus currently under discussion foresees an exam with three essay questions and one exercise in analysing a document.
There were few significant changes in this year's higher-level Irish and English results compared to last year. There was a slight increase in the proportion gaining As, Bs and Cs in the latter.
However, the number failing ordinary-level English also rose. Ms Sheila Parsons, a teacher at Holy Faith De La Salle College, Skerries, Co Dublin, said one reason for this was the almost total lack of remedial provision at senior cycle in second-level schools.