England’s exams regulator, Ofqual, is “closely monitoring” the marking of an A-level maths paper after a petition demanding a review garnered over 15,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.
Students who sat Wednesday’s Pearson Edexcel paper one exam claimed it was “significantly more challenging than any past papers,” leaving them “overwhelmed” and “uncertain.”
The Change.org petition detailed how the pure mathematics paper demanded “multiple layers of reasoning,” “extended algebraic manipulation,” and “unfamiliar approaches,” which disproportionately affected lower-achieving candidates.
Ofqual, England’s exams regulator, confirmed its awareness of the concerns and stated it would be “closely monitoring” Pearson’s approach to marking the exam.
“Our priority is students and ensuring their grades are a reliable indication of what they know, understand and can do,” the watchdog told the Press Association.
The petition, which was created on Wednesday, said grade boundaries should reflect the difficulty of the exam.
“Many students have dedicated countless hours over two years to preparing for these examinations,” it said.
“They have attended lessons, completed extensive independent study, worked through past papers, attended revision sessions, and made considerable personal sacrifices in pursuit of their academic goals.
“These students deserve confidence that their grades will reflect their mathematical ability rather than the unusual difficulty of a single examination paper.”
Caroline Darrington, a spokesperson for Pearson, said the exam board was committed to ensuring a fair exam experience for all candidates.
“Every paper is developed with input from experienced senior examiners and rigorously checked to ensure it reflects the course and meets required standards,” she said.
“If a paper is found to be more difficult than previous years, grade boundaries will be set to reflect that. When setting grade boundaries, we review a range of evidence, including statistical data and expert judgment.
“This process ensures students receive results that fairly reflect their performance and are comparable across exam series.”
It comes after Ofqual issued a stark warning about the growing threat of pupils using high-tech smart devices to cheat in exams.
Data from the watchdog reveals that cheating using mobile phones and smart devices has been the most common category of malpractice in every summer exam series since 2018.
As over a million pupils sit their GCSEs and A-levels this year, Sir Ian Bauckham, Ofqual’s chief, has raised fresh concerns about gadgets such as smartwatches and glasses.
Speaking on the regulator’s new podcast series, Can I Just Qualify That?, Sir Ian stressed that “mobile phones are not the only devices students can use to cheat.”
“There are of course other devices, there are smart watches and smart all sorts of things,” Sir Ian said.
“There might be smart spectacles next… that will play text across the inside of the lens that only the student can see.”
