Action taken on Exam Errors
Thursday, 04 August 2011 17:01
Students awaiting their exam results are being reassured about the measures put in place to take into account question paper errors this summer.
Following the errors, awarding organisations were asked by the qualifications regulators in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Ofqual, DfES and CCEA) to ensure action was taken to make sure, as far as possible, candidates were not unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged as a result.
The regulators have confirmed that all actions possible during marking and grading have been completed, following assurances received from the awarding organisations.
In addition, university admissions tutors have been provided with detailed information about the measures taken in cases involving AS and A2 papers to make sure they are fully informed.
Speaking on behalf of the regulators, Ofqual chief executive Glenys Stacey said: “Many young people are now getting ready for their exam results. While the vast majority of the thousands of papers this summer were error free, there were 12 incidents of errors found on live exams across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Awarding organisations have taken steps to address these errors during the marking and grading process.
“The actions taken have differed according to the circumstances in each case. As regulators, we are satisfied that everything that could be done has been done to make sure that, as far as possible, candidates have not been unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged and that there was a level playing field.
“I hope that the information now available about the measures taken will reassure affected candidates. If you feel you have the wrong grade when you open your results, tried and tested procedures are in place for your centre to raise this with the awarding organisation.”
AS and A Level results will be published on August 18, and GCSE results published on August 25. The regulators and the awarding organisations are reminding any students who feel they may have received the wrong mark that Enquiries About Results procedures are in place, including priority services for students with a place in higher education depending on their results. Candidates who do have concerns over a result are advised to contact the school or college where they sat the examination in the first instance.
JCQ has also issued a statement today on behalf of the awarding organisations. This can be found at http://www.jcq.org.uk/about_us/newsreleases/
More information on exam paper errors can be found here.
Ends
Notes to editors
1. There were 10 live exam paper errors this summer which affected candidates in England. A list of these can be found at http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/news-and-announcements/archived-news/83-news-and-announcements-news/669-list-of-summer-2011-examination-errors
2. There was also one other error on a CCEA paper in Northern Ireland and one on a WJEC paper in Wales, taking the overall total across the three countries to 12.
3. More information about the measures taken for specific exam papers can be found on the awarding organisation websites:
AQA - http://web.aqa.org.uk/exam-errors.php
Edexcel - http://www.edexcel.com/Aboutus/press-room/press-releases/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?filter=1775
OCR - http://www.ocr.org.uk/news/2011/item_032.html
CCEA - http://www.ccea.org.uk
WJEC - http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?nav=14&news=166
4. Actions to take into account the exam paper errors include:
- Adjusting the marking scheme to omit the question concerned for all candidates (with the total mark of the paper amended accordingly) or giving all candidates credit for that question;
- Revising the mark scheme to enable credit of alternative correct answers that candidates might have provided as the result of an error;
- Conducting a statistical review of how an error has impacted on the demand of the paper for all candidates, so as to inform the setting of grade boundary requirements for that paper;
- Applying special consideration to individual candidates where an analysis of candidates’ performance indicates that particular individuals’ performance has been significantly affected by an error when compared to performance on other examinations in the same subject;
- Applying special consideration in response to requests from schools or colleges who state that an individual or groups of candidates have been particularly disrupted or adversely affected by an error.
