SQA Responds to Maths Complaints
Exams body SQA said no pupils will be disadvantaged after thousands of candidates complained about an ``impossible'' Higher maths paper.
Exams body SQA said no pupils will be disadvantaged after thousands of candidates complained about an impossible'' Higher maths paper.
Some pupils were said to have been reduced to tears by questions in the exam, which took place on Wednesday.
More than 13,000 people have signed two online petitions urging the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to take into account the difficulty of the exam when marking papers.
One petition, titled Explain why they set the Higher maths exam to an impossible level'', said:The general consensus is that the majority of questions were so hard the students weren't able to solve them.
The SQA should be investigated as this is an outrage. Pupils have put so much preparation into this subject and have now been left traumatised.
The knock-on effect is fear of subsequent exams and the possibility of not gaining access to the university course they have worked so hard for.''
It called on the SQA to reduce the pass mark for the exam or take into account marks attained throughout the year.
The other petition, titled Reconsider new CfE higher maths exam grades'', said the examreduced individuals to tears and extreme stress''.
But the SQA has moved to reassure pupils.
A spokesman said: We recognise that the exams period is a stressful time for young people and their parents. We are aware of the concerns many of them have raised on online petitions about the Higher maths exams and we want to reassure them.
As is the case every year, we do not set the pass mark or the number of marks required for each grade until the marking process is complete, later in the summer. This procedure ensures that we have the necessary statistical information on how the exam performed and whether it was harder than intended. Only then will we set the marks required for each grade.
We would therefore expect someone who got an A, B or C grade last year to receive the same result this year.
These rigorous processes are in place to ensure that no-one will be disadvantaged.''