15th May 2019 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A case where an A Level maths paper was leaked before the exam has been referred to the Crown Court by Pearson, the company which owns the Edexcel exam board. Reported on the BBC, the exam is from 2017 and it’s claimed that a “very small number” of students saw the exam prior to sitting it. Another case from 2018 is still under investigation.
14 candidates were disqualified in 2017 and 15 in 2018. Pearson described taking the case to court as a “critical development”, and said that they were close to making a similar decision about the case from 2018. Even though only a small number of students are involved, Pearson considers it important to follow the investigation through because the leek had an impact on public confidence. They have also written to parents and students to emphasise the importance of exam security.
The incident in 2017 was said to be a “limited breach” and then students involved then shared the maths paper via social channels. Pearson’s reaction was to change two questions for a small number of schools because they said it was too late to replace the paper in its entirety. Rod Bristow, Pearson’s president expressed his regret following complaints from schools about the way in which the exams were organised in that year.