Higher-level paper had a ‘few fresh angles that required students to think’, says teacher It was noted that 'familiar topics' were asked in 'slightly fresh ways'. Photograph: The Irish Times Jack Brady Tue Jun 16 2026 - 21:04 • 2 MIN READThe Leaving Cert chemistry paper featured “familiar topics” and a “good range of choice” for exam candidates, teachers have said.Mary Mullaghy, chemistry teacher at Eureka Secondary School in Co Meath, said this year’s paper rewarded students who “engaged fully with the syllabus”.Mullaghy said there was a “good range of choice” with “many of the traditional ‘old chestnuts’” making appearances. However, she said the integration of topics on question two “may have challenged some students”.John O’Sullivan, head of chemistry at the Tuition Centre, said it was a “fair but testing exam”. He said there was “plenty of familiar material” and the paper had “a few fresh angles that required students to think”.Tara Lyons, teacher at the Institute of Education, said the final exam of the current chemistry course shunned “any fanfare, hoorah or shocks” to stay true to trends of previous years. “A student who had spent the time to study their past papers will be pleased with this paper as the valuable insights gained there had a tangible impact in this exam,” she said.O’Sullivan said “familiar topics” were asked in “slightly fresh ways”, fitting a recent pattern in Leaving Cert chemistry papers. Overall, Mullaghy said students felt they had been presented with a “fair and accessible” paper.O’Sullivan said the experiments in questions one and two were “largely expected”. Question three was “the one that felt a little more unusual in its combination of topics”.Lyons said the topic of ions in water in question three would be “very familiar” to students but a calculation was also included this time around. She said this question distinguishes the top scorers from everyone else as it “requires a different set of skills” rather than simply reciting information.The topic of bonding in question five marked a “slight departure from the recent pattern” and the free-radical question was a “good example of the SEC [State Examinations Commission] asking something familiar in a new way”.O’Sullivan said question eight on free-radical formation in the initiation stage, being either endothermic or exothermic, has “not been asked in this way before and may have thrown some students”.Mullaghy said the ordinary level paper provided “broad coverage of the syllabus and appeared appropriately pitched for its intended cohort”. She said the paper gave students a fair opportunity to “demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and practical skills”.IN THIS SECTION