Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble

''Very reasonable'' was the verdict of Tom McKinley, principal teacher of chemistry at Mearns Castle High School, who said that, despite one or two little difficulties, it was the kind of paper in which average pupils could expect to do well. ''Some of our very good pupils had an hour to spare and the others, who took longer, were very pleased with it,'' he added.

He disagreed with the candidates who thought there was less problem-solving required than usual, although it was perhaps not at the same level of difficulty as in previous years. ''I don't know whether there has been any dumbing down this year. In relative terms, chemistry is regarded as one of the most difficult subjects at Higher, but there were some very simplistic questions which suggests that may be changing,'' he said, grading it overall as ''moderate''.

Joe Jamieson, senior lecturer in chemistry at Langside College, who also regarded the paper as fair and moderate, said that the main difference in the calculations was that, whereas candidates in the old Higher would be asked to apply what they knew to a situation which they would not have seen before, perhaps from a scientific journal, this year they were given problems of a type they would already have come across. He thought it was fairer to base such calculations on the syllabus and that many of his students, who were repeat candidates, thought it was much better than last year.

Jim Parker, principal teacher of chemistry at Gryffe High School in Houston, said the crucial difference this year was that more knowledge was required than previous years and that problem-solving skills could not be used as a substitute. ''People who had prepared well would be able to do the paper,'' he said, although he rated it as ''difficult''.

''Fair, but chemistry exams are always difficult'' was the view which led John Heron of St Ninian's High School in Kirkintilloch to an overall verdict of difficult. ''The calculations were easier than they have been in the past. They used to be asked to calculate a multi-stage, but that has been replaced by a more straightforward two-stage one,'' he said. However, he rejected any suggestion of dumbing down, saying that there was some evidence from the Higher Still development trial that the standard had recently been floating up. ''An A in chemistry is the benchmark for many university courses and the standard is not going down,'' he added.

Only one teacher went as far as rating the exam ''easy''. Pat Scott, principal teacher of chemistry at Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh, said it was very straightforward, the main difference from last year being that there were no problem-solving questions in unfamiliar contexts and bravely suggested it was the easiest Higher in his subject for 15 years. ''There were very few questions demanding answers which would allow the more able pupils to shine and which would pose difficulties for those at the B/C level,'' he said.

CHEMISTRY

GEOGRAPHY

How physical and human factors cause variations in temperature, how maps can be used to decipher the geological history of an area, the factors which lead to particular population structures, how farming affects the landscape, the reasons for industrial concentration and how major cities undergo change should all trip off the tongue of geographers who sat this year's Higher which ran the whole gamut of the syllabus. It was judged ''a very fair paper, which provided good coverage of all areas of the syllabus'' by Lisa Allen, principal teacher of geography at Barrhead High School. She identified one possible disadvantage for some pupils in that question six in Paper I, which is normally a choice of one out of three landscapes, this year required all candidates to write about an intensive peasant farming landscape.

Chris McWilliams, lecturer in geography at Langside College, also thought it a very fair paper, saying there was nothing particularly difficult in it. ''It is true that there has been more choice in the past, but there is no obligation on the exam board to provide a choice. He thought the second paper on applications, which requires candidates to write on one physical geography topic and one human geography topic, was very fair compared with last year. ''Altogether, the exam was very straightforward,'' he said, rating it on our scale as ''moderate''.

Bill Dick, principal teacher of geography at St Modan's High School in Stirling, also described it as refecting a very fair coverage of the syllabus, with no unexpected questions. He qualified this approval by questioning whether such straightforward questions provided sufficient scope for the really good candidates to demonstrate the extent of their ability. ''While the syllabus has hardly changed for Higher Still, the structure has, with the exam concentrated into a shorter time, with questions in the core paper worth only five or six marks each and those in the applications paper worth only 13 or 15.

While agreeing with the overall assessment of ''fair'', Charles McTrusty, principal teacher of geography at Hillhead High in Glasgow, said some pupils might have been surprised by the fact that both questions relating to the map were on physical topics, when last year both were on human topics. He agreed with colleagues elsewhere that the paper proved a demonstration of teachers' strictures that candidates had to prepare every topic.

He had a specific concern for the many pupils at his school whose first language was not English. One example of what he thought was unnecessary complication on the part of the exam board was the question in Paper II which asked candidates to refer to ''newly industrialising countries and other developing countries''. He said: ''The textbook we use refers to middle-income developing countries and lower-income developing countries and the change in terminology could put some people at a disadvantage.''

At Banchory Academy, principal geography teacher Graham McDonald said it was a very fair exam, with no stinkers. Although he was a little surprised that both the map questions related to physical geography, he added: ''That's a minor quibble, since last year they were both on human geography.'' His main concern, along with many colleagues, he said, was that candidates had to acquire a considerable breadth and depth of knowledge which was then translated into five-mark questions.

FRENCH

Very fair was the unanimous verdict on this year's Higher French exam, with the general reaction as close to delight as teachers ever allow themselves to reveal publicly. All rebutted the murmuring that the standard of Higher Still was a notch below the old Higher with the argument that the main difference is that it is more relevant.

''A very fair paper which matched the syllabus,'' was the verdict of Mary Donnelly, modern languages teacher at John Ogilvie High School in Hamilton. ''The reading passage was a very modern, interesting text and the directed writing was very straightforward, probably more so than last year, and the listening tape was read at a very good pace,'' she said.

The directed writing exercise was a vast improvement on the previous essays which many pupils found more of a test of the sort of creative-writing skills they would employ in an English exam than of the language skills they had acquired. ''I welcome that as making it more accessible to the majority of pupils. We are already seeing more pupils take modern languages after Standard Grade because there are things they can learn as they can in other subjects. Modern languages are now being seen as relevant, rather than as difficult, subjects to get an A in. I am very optimistic about it,'' she added.

Her views on the paper were echoed by Joe Coyle, principal teacher of modern languages at St Ninian's High in Kirkintilloch. Pleased that both the reading and writing questions in the first paper matched the syllabus, he described the listening tape in the second paper as ''perfect'' in terms of the clarity and pace of delivery, with no difficulties with enunciation or muffled speech. Overall, he rated the two papers as moderate.

Pierre Voyer, the principal teacher of modern languages at Fortrose Academy, also described it as ''very fair''. In his view, the prescribed themes of lifestyle, education, and work, and the wider world are the big advantage of

Higher Still. ''Lifestyle, as the first topic, tends to be covered in detail and that includes relationships with parents, so the reading passage with the scenario of the young boy who wants to become a professional footballer covered that as well as the education and work topics,'' he said. The writing exercise covered the wider world as well as requiring candidates to write in the past tense. He thought that able candidates would be able to produce a virtuoso display of perfect, imperfect, conditional, and future

tenses within the requirements of the subject matter, but that not particularly gifted candidates who had done the work would do well. He was pleased that the listening exam was also on one of the prescribed topics - health - and also that the questions started with a simple one and gradually increased in difficulty.

''In the past, Higher French has been seen as too elitist, a bit dull and boring. The proof of the pudding is that last year I had 10 pupils for Higher French, this year I have 17, and next year there will be 27 or 28. It is possible that the standard in the past was too high, because we do want to reach a much wider group of pupils,'' he added. His overall rating was moderate.

There was a similar reaction at a school of very different size and style, Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow, where the principal teacher of modern languages, Maureen Gilchrist, was also delighted with the choice of topics, but added: ''It was testing enough to be a valid Higher.''

''In the directed writing, there was an opportunity to perform on the topics that were laid down, but still a requirement to know the grammar. She also rated the exam as moderate, saying: ''It was very fair, but not easy.''

At St Modan's High in Stirling, principal teacher Martin McGeehan said the listening exercise was always a concern, but announced himself ''pretty pleased'' with this year's. He also welcomed the subject matter of the reading and writing exercises as ''something they can relate to rather than something totally irrelevant''.

Teachers' verdict French

EASY MODERATE DIFFICULT FIENDISH