Impossible question set in AS-level exam

The exam was sat by more than 40,000 candidates, including some pupils from West Berkshire

SOME West Berkshire sixth-formers may have faced additional exam stress recently after an "impossible question" featured in an AS-level business paper.

Pupils sitting the paper were faced with a question that did not include the information needed for them to be able to reach the answer.

The question was included in an exam produced by AQA exam board and was taken by 41,612 candidates from 1,484 schools and colleges.

Pupils at St Bartholomew's School in Andover Road, Newbury, and Park House School, also in Andover Road, Newbury, both sat the paper but no complaints have been made.

Christina Haddrell, headteacher of St Bartholomew's School, said today (Wednesday): "With regard to the AQA Business Studies Unit 2 AS paper, there were seven students at St Bartholomew's who sat this paper.

"At this stage no query has been raised by the students. According to normal procedures any concerns about exam papers are communicated directly with the exam board by the school."

Derek Peaple, the headteacher of Park House School, said earlier: "They (pupils) do sit the AQA Business Studies but there has been no impact or concerns."

A spokeswoman for AQA said: "We are very sorry about the error in the paper. However, we do have a robust process for ensuring that none of our students will be disadvantaged as a result our mistake. The examiners who will be marking the paper are aware of the problem and marks will be adjusted to ensure that all students get the right grade."

The mistake, which carried a maximum of three marks out of a total of 80, follows a similar error in an maths AS-level paper this summer, which was sat by 6,790 pupils.

The maths question, which was worth eight marks, 11 per cent of the paper, was impossible to solve as it was incomplete.

If you sat the exam in West Berkshire and think you were affected by the exam question, contact James Williams on (01635) 564533 or email james.williams@newburynews.co.uk