2 days ago
Leaving Cert students face tougher maths paper with 'some curveballs'
The second week of Leaving Cert 2025 began with a 'trickier' maths paper 2 exam that included some curveballs to get students thinking, teachers reviewing this year's exam papers believe.
Junior Cycle 2025 also continued this Monday, with students tackling the science exam.
Maths paper 2 was a tougher paper than Friday's paper 1, according to Niall Duddy, ASTI subject spokesperson and teacher at Presentation College, Athenry, Co Galway.
'The feeling certainly amongst our own students here is that it was a trickier test than paper 1 overall,' he said.
'It was a more stern test but at the same time, it was still doable,' he added.
'If I was doing the paper myself, I probably would have started with a question like number three, which was around probability and Venn diagrams, which students would have been familiar with from Junior Cycle, with this question just given a higher-level Leaving Cert twist.'
He also noted several 'helpful little hints' included in the questions this year, for example, students were asked to give a reason for their proof.
'That has crept in the last couple of years, and it's nice to see. It's more user-friendly.'
However, students he spoke to after the exam found section B of the higher level paper 'trickier'.
'Particularly question eight, which was based around pyramids. It's a bit like Marmite; Some people like this type of question, others don't.'
'A lot of students I spoke to avoided it, even though the question wasn't as bad when you went down into it as it was at first glance.'
Another question that caught a few students out was the use of the phrase "stratified random sampling" in question 10, he believed.
'It's only a small part of the question but I know quite a few students who asked me afterwards what it actually was.'
The paper 'got tough' as it went on, he said. 'But that is to be expected with higher-level maths.'
'There was no one coming out who seemed very disappointed, but they did say it was trickier.'
Studyclix subject expert Stephen Begley, of Dundalk Grammar School, said the higher level maths paper 2 was 'very fair and decent'.
'Though it did have some curveballs to get students thinking."
'Those who prepared for a typical paper 2 would have been content with this paper, which enabled students to showcase their knowledge of the usual core topics in a range of questions.
'All in all, it's been a pretty good, fair, and accessible set of exams for Leaving Cert higher level maths students in 2025.'
Meanwhile, the ordinary level paper presented students with a 'very typical and manageable set of questions', Mr Begley believed.
'While the paper was particularly statistics heavy, those who prepared this regularly featured topic would have been well-rewarded, with all elements of the area being examined across multiple questions.'
He said the empirical rule in question six, tree diagram in question seven, pie chart in question eight and trigonometry question in question 10 "would have given students plenty of marks to boost their confidence in the exam".
He added: 'Whilst the tail end of questions were not without their stings, the opening parts provided good space for students to gather marks.'
Read More
Threat of industrial action in secondary schools as ASTI rejects Leaving Cert reforms
