{"id":555939,"date":"2026-07-18T10:59:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T10:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/555939\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T10:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T10:59:17","slug":"pupils-were-getting-sick-in-bathrooms-after-impossible-leaving-cert-paper-says-parents-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/555939\/","title":{"rendered":"Pupils were \u2018getting sick in bathrooms\u2019 after \u2018impossible\u2019 Leaving Cert paper, says parents \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leaving Certificate<\/a> students were \u201cgetting sick in the bathrooms\u201d after this year\u2019s \u201chorrendous\u201d maths paper one exam, parents told the Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Irish Times obtained a sample of dozens of emails received by the Minister from students and parents regarding this year\u2019s Leaving Cert exams.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of the emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act were complaints about the higher-level maths paper one, after which one parent said their daughter was \u201ctraumatised\u201d.<\/p>\n

They told the Minister they had to \u201cseek advice from a pharmacist at the weekend to calm her\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another person, who included Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> in their correspondence, sought the \u201cnames\u201d of those who prepared the maths questions, alongside their qualifications, professional background and teaching experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person who set this paper needs to be questioned,\u201d wrote another parent.<\/p>\n

The identities of those involved in State exam preparation are protected under the Education Act 1998.<\/p>\n

One of this year\u2019s candidates remarked how the exam was an \u201cunprecedented shock\u201d, arguing it was \u201cfar more difficult than any past paper\u201d.<\/p>\n

Some criticised the \u201ccomplex\u201d wording used in questions, with one saying they were being used as \u201cexperimental subjects for a new Leaving Cert approach\u201d.<\/p>\n

That pupil said they devoted \u201ccountless hours\u201d to studying maths, but feared they \u201cdid not even achieve 10 per cent in this paper\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Leaving Cert maths, paper one: A song and dance about a bum noteOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the State Exams Commission (SEC<\/a>) said this year\u2019s maths exams were \u201cof the same format, structure and style\u201d as previous papers and \u201cfully in line with the subject specification\u201d.<\/p>\n

Those involved in preparing the exams are \u201cexperts in the subject\u201d and experienced teachers, they said, adding that the papers were reviewed by subject experts to assess their suitability, including the level of demand on candidates and clarity of language.<\/p>\n

Another student, who said they would normally achieve a H1 or H2 in the subject, described it as \u201chorrendous\u201d, saying they left feeling \u201cextremely distressed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the exam, I became so overwhelmed that I spent a significant portion of the time in tears,\u201d they said, adding: \u201cI looked around and over half the girls in the exam halls were the exact same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several sought a deferred sitting of the exam or a recalibration of marking, while parents sought reassurance their children would not fail.<\/p>\n

One parent said their daughter\u2019s classmates were \u201cbreaking down crying and getting sick in the bathrooms as the paper was impossible\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the reasons people leave Ireland to study abroad and never come back,\u201d wrote another student, who said they were \u201ctruly disgusted\u201d by the paper.<\/p>\n

The student said they and their classmates applied for Post-Leaving Certificate courses after the exam \u201cas the chances of getting into college after such a paper have now dropped for many of us\u201d.<\/p>\n

Passing the subject is an essential requirement for most third-level courses.<\/p>\n

Another sought an apology to all students \u201cwrongfully expected to complete this test\u201d. <\/p>\n

One parent wrote that their daughter was \u201cgenuinely excited to sit this exam\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I collected her after the exam, I was met not by the confident and enthusiastic young woman who had walked into the exam hall that morning, but by a devastated child in tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SEC said all correspondence received is brought to the attention of the chief examiner and is \u201cconsidered in the refinement of the draft marking scheme\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe approach taken by the SEC to the development of the final marking schemes ensures consistency in the marking and fairness to candidates,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leaving Certificate students were \u201cgetting sick in the bathrooms\u201d after this year\u2019s \u201chorrendous\u201d maths paper one exam, parents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,2989,3184,43,49903,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-555939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-hildegarde-naughton","tag-leaving-certificate","tag-news","tag-state-examinations-commission-sec","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}