Exam chiefs blame human error for mistakes in papers

EXAM chiefs have blamed human error for two incidents which disrupted Leaving Certificate accounting and Junior Certificate business students in June.

At 18 schools in Dublin, higher level accounting papers given to 217 students had been incorrectly collated during the production stage. These exams were among 15% of this year’s Junior and Leaving Certificate papers printed internally by the State Examinations Commission (SEC); the majority were out-sourced to two British-based firms.

The centre pages of the accounting exam were missing from the papers given to students at the affected schools and the omitted pages had to be faxed and emailed during the exam.

However, despite letters from schools, students, teachers and parents about the effects of the disruption, the SEC’s chief examiner for accounting concluded there is no evidence the printing error impacted negatively.

The chief examiner advised the SEC that the first section of the paper, which was not missing from those handed out, takes around one hour to complete. The SEC said all affected schools would have received and distributed the complete paper within that timeframe.

The review, a summary of which has been submitted in a report to Education Minister Mary Coughlan, found the rate of completion of the required number of questions was higher in 13 of the schools than the national average.

The chief examiner also concluded there was no evidence that candidates were given any advantage at the two schools where additional time was allowed because of the mistake.

The Junior Certificate higher level business paper was the subject of controversy when the afternoon paper taken by almost 24,000 students had an error in a cash flow forecast question. The totals in a number of columns on the table provided were incorrect.

The report said the incorrect figures were introduced during changes to an earlier draft of the question but were not detected during the process of setting and proofing the exam.

The SEC said the marking scheme for the paper was developed with a view to taking the errors into account and ensuring students were not disadvantaged.

“In that regard, the SEC is satisfied that, through the application of the marking scheme, there have been no adverse effects on candidate outcomes. Indications at this stage are that the results for business in 2010 will be broadly in line with previous years,” the report said.

Junior Certificate students will receive their results in schools in mid-September.