Leaving Cert music and agricultural science: pigs go AWOL

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, the influential Beatles album, brought a psychedelic tinge to the penultimate day of the Leaving Certificate examinations.

About 6,429 students sat this year’s music exam. The vast majority, 6,116, took the higher level paper.

Music has among the highest level of A grades.

Samantha Conroy, TUI subject representative and a music teacher at Firhouse Community College, said students who had studied and worked hard were rewarded by the higher level paper.

“A lot of key words that were used throughout the curriculum appeared.

“There was also a lot of musical score which brought the music to life on the paper and allowed students to move beyond stock knowledge.”

One surprise was the appearance of the composer Raymond Deane as a long question in the listening section of the exam; he had been expected to crop up as a less detailed question.

Conroy particularly welcomed the question on The Beatles.

“It was really nice, exploring the recording techniques used by the band, which were ground-breaking for their time and which are still hugely important.”

Conroy said the essay questions, which tested students on their knowledge of the harping tradition and regional music styles, were “a little niche and disappointing; they were really aimed at the higher-level candidate”.

Susan McCormack, a music teacher at The Institute of Education, said a question on the higher level paper about major melodies would have thrown some of the weaker students.

About 7,870 students sat the morning agricultural science paper, including 4,889 males and 2,981 females.

Seamus Hynes, TUI representative and an agricultural science teacher at Gairm Scoil Mhuire in Athy, Co Kildare, said that while the higher-level paper appeared easy at first glance, students would have found it more testing as they progressed.

“Overall, students would have needed to work on some of the finer points of every section in order to handle the questions.

“This year, there was a notable focus on potatoes, dairy and sheep, whereas beef and pigs didn’t appear at all.”

Hynes said that the ordinary level paper was fine overall, but one question on microorganisms was a little difficult to interpret.