Exam failure

EXAM errors have dogged education for years with numerous high-profile cases embarrassing the boards responsible, but this year such mistakes potentially carry an additional, very significant financial cost.

Students who had the misfortune of sitting the OCR’s maths exam, which contained a question worth 11 per cent of the paper that was impossible to solve as it was incomplete, could end up paying three times as much in tuition fees if they miss out on university places and are forced to apply next year.

This shambles could end in the courts with legal action already being threatened for those who lose out. The OCR has promised the error will be taken into account, but lamentably has not explained publicly how this will be done.

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Any method that treats all students the same – either discounting the question entirely or awarding full marks to every student – is unfair on those who would have got it right. Awarding partial marks based on what the students did write down would also be unfair, as those who struggled could legitimately argue they were confused by the incomplete problem.

The mistake is the latest in a long line of inexcusable failures – in February the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance apologised after marking errors cost 13 students their university places. These incidents follow a depressingly similar pattern – immediate apology and the promise that lessons will be learned.

The OCR has promised an inquiry. The board have also said they hope the review will minimise the chance of such an error happening again, sadly, recent history offers little hope in that regard.

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