Galway Bay fm newsroom - Many students across Galway now have two leaving cert exams under their belts this evening - as the first day of this year's examinations drew to a close in the past hour.
There are over Leaving Cert 3,200 students across Galway this year - though many will not be sitting some of the exams, while others will sit no exams at all.
That's because they have the option of sitting an exam, taking a calculated grade, or a combination of both, on a subject by subject basis.
For example, the first exam this morning was English Paper I - and 30 percent of students nationwide opted for calculated grades only.
In the past hour, Home Economics students have finished their written exams, bringing day one to a close.
Student Andrea Hickey from Colaiste Bhaile Chlair chose a combination of calculated grades and sitting the exam so she could chose the best result.
Principal of Colaiste Bhaile Chláir is Alan Mongey - speaking to David Nevin he said students are thankfully not feeling as much pressure this year:
It was D-Day for the class of 2021as the exam halls opened for English Paper 1 at 9.30am.
The general consensus was that the paper was fair with an interesting range of topics.
Student Cian Moore from Presentation Athenry left the exam halls shortly before 12.30 like thousands of others nationwide.
He spoke to Galway Bay fm news about his feelings on higher level English paper 1:
Sandra Rosenberg is an English teacher at Presentation Athenry - she described the higher level paper as being fair:
She also described the ordinary level English Paper as engaging and balanced - and feels the theme of music was an excellent choice:
And these students from across the country were generally feeling positive about the first exam this morning:
