Exams watchdog steps in over Facebook protest

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?

Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...

Political corruption reflects the widening chasm between the political class and the electorate

The corruption and hypocrisy which has come to characterise politics and politicians, and in particu...

Despite its popularity, the death penalty would allow the state to kill innocent people

The University of Michigan law school and Northwestern University have just compiled a database of o...

Listen and hear. Or meet us in Tahrir

Today Tahrir Square is not the scene of demonstrations against the military. Instead, it is a centre...

Suggested Topics

The exams watchdog has stepped into the row over an A-level biology paper which led to thousands of students launching a Facebook protest against the exam board AQA for setting questions they felt were unfair.

Ofqual, the newly created independent exams regulator, has ordered the exam board to submit a report on the controversy. The move came as the number of students joining a Facebook page in protest against the paper – which they claim failed to stick to the syllabus – grew to more than 10,000. The exam was sat by just under 20,000 students on Monday.

Biology teachers have also joined in the complaints against the exam board. One pupil from Prudhoe High school in Northumberland said his teacher had sent a formal letter of complaint to AQA about the content of the questions.

Another, from a college in Leicester, said his head of biology had sat the exam under the universal mark scheme “and could barely reach a B grade”.

However, Dan Quinton, head of biology at Caterham school and a member of the Society of Biology said: “AQA did what they said they were going to do. A-levels are hard work and so they should be.

“There was a lot more data handling this year, and it was harder in that it required more knowledge and relied less on recall. Previously you could get pupils who were less able through simply because you could cram their heads with facts. My only worry would be if the other exam boards didn’t do this and were therefore easier.”

Ofqual said it wanted evidence from the AQA of “the actions they are taking in response to the concerns raised”.

Protests were also lodged yesterday about a second biology A-level paper, set by the a different exam board called OCR. As with the other exam, pupils said the OCR paper had failed to ask them enough questions about the syllabus they had studied, and therefore could have jeopardised their places on competitive university courses such as medicine and dentistry. OCR said it was not aware of any problems with the paper.

AQA issued a statement saying it was “aware of the concern amongst some candidates for this examination that the exam has not allowed them to fully demonstrate their understanding and abilities.”

It added: “We will take account of these concerns when marking the exam. The concerns will also be considered at the awarding meeting where we make final decisions regarding the award of grades.”

The protesting pupils interpreted this as an admission that there had been something wrong with the paper – but said they should be given a chance to re-sit the test with another paper rather than rely on sympathetic marking.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years
Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Mayor condemned for saying that two-thirds of riders killed on the road were at fault in accidents
Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Unlikely community movie beats the stars to get prized Leicester Square premiere
Solved after 33 years? Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton

Solved after 33 years?

Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton
Like mamma used to make: Pizza Pilgrims is proving a word-of mouth sensation

Pizza Pilgrims: Like mamma used to make

A van dispensing purist pizzas is proving a word-of mouth sensation
The supper on its uppers: Why we need to learn to entertain lavishly for less

Supper on its uppers: Entertain lavishly for less

Dinner parties are buckling under the pressures of food snobbery and belt-tightening...
The 10 best summer cookbooks

The 10 best summer cookbooks

From Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain to The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard...
Gorgeous Georgian: Now we can enjoy the cuisine of Russia's fiery neighbour nearer home

Gorgeous Georgian cuisine

The food of Russia's fiery neighbour is among the world's most inventive and original
Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

White House denies putting politics before national security
Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

The world No 1 is fiercely proud to be from Serbia and to be improving his country's profile. And he knows that winning the French Open – and therefore holding all four Slams – will do his cause no harm at all
Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

After Hull's Martin Gleeson failed a drug test last year it sparked an avalanche of lies, complacency and confusion which Robin Scott-Elliot reveals for the first time
Ian Bell: Forget good-looking shots, I want to be known as a tough operator

Ian Bell: View From the Middle

It was nice to play a pressure innings at Lord's on Monday and be recognised for it