Mistake found in Year 12 Specialist Mathematics exam taken by 960 students
A BUNGLED question has left 960 students scratching their heads in their Year 12 specialist mathematics exam, and it could be days before they find out how the SACE Board will solve it.
A BUNGLED question has left 960 Year 12 students scratching their heads in their Specialist Mathematics exam on Friday.
It could be several days before they find out how the error will be handled by the SACE Board, which is seeking feedback from high schools about how much it affected students.
The board was forced to notify schools this morning when a printing error was discovered in the first part of Question 7, which asked students to find the value of an equation.
A plus sign was mistakenly used in place of a colon.
That section of the question was worth five marks out of a total of 150 for the whole exam.
A parent who contacted The Advertiser said: “The kids would have been rattled and possibly lost time over it.”
Once it became aware of the mistake, the SACE Board contacted all school exam co-ordinators and exam supervisors by email so, where possible, they could correct the error during the three-hour exam.
Carol Noule, the executive officer of the Mathematical Association of SA, the state affiliate of the Australian Mathematics Teachers Association, said mistakes in exam papers “should never ever happen”.
“What they can never estimate is the impact on individual kids,” she said.
The SACE Board has asked schools to advise of any impacts on students of the mistake and has vowed no student will be left worse off.
“We will ensure no student is disadvantaged by this error, and we apologise for any confusion or distress caused for students,” chief executive Dr Neil McGoran said.
Board spokesman Daniel Dew said it was the only error he was aware of so far among 1700 questions across 42 exam subjects.
Specialist Mathematics was one of four exams scheduled today. The others were Mathematical Methods, Agricultural and Horticultural Science and Geology.
The final six exams are scheduled from next Monday to Wednesday. They are Accounting, Australian History, Geography, Australian and International Politics and two music subjects.