There is something comforting in knowing if you struggled with a particular exam paper that, well, others did too. You’re not wishing bad luck on anyone, it’s just natural to feel a little better when you realise you were not the only one who found a paper particularly difficult. Hopefully, Leaving Certificate students who left school halls drained and miserable last Friday after the first higher-level maths paper were a little happier following the second paper earlier today. Peter McGuire has a comprehensive review here.On the ordinary-level paper, student reaction was, apparently, positive with the paper being topical and relatable, and containing questions about reality TV and music festivals. Thankfully, the reaction to this year’s higher-level Irish paper one seemed to be equally positive. “I think it was very fair and balanced,” said Rita Donnellan, ASTI subject representative for Irish. “The compositions, in particular, had a range of topics which were accessible for all abilities. All students would have found something recognisable, and the topics gave them scope to demonstrate their capabilities.”You can read the review here.It wasn’t all smooth sailing with the paper, with the omission of the topic córas oideachais (the education system) surprising teachers. “It was widely predicted by teachers and students in advance of the examination,” said Danielle O’Connell.Meanwhile, you can read the interesting thoughts of psychotherapist Colman Noctor here. The father-of-three talks about how his eldest son is currently sitting the Junior Cycle tests and why he would like to see any child approaching the exams in a ‘chilled’ fashion.Noctor says it’s important for parents to cut teenagers doing exams some slack, as well as any other children in the family. You may want to cut that bit of his interview out and pin it to the fridge!