Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to complain about one of the questions asked in the F215 Biology paper I sat on 15th June 2012. Two sections of a question, worth 10 marks collectively, were directly copied word for word from question 4a and 4b of the 'Mammalian Physiology and Behaviour' 2805/05 paper from June 19th 2003, which can be seen here:
http://pastpapers.org/A2/biology/mammalian/2003%20June%20QP.pdf This question was copied word for word into F215 June 2012, with the Figure, marks allocated and wording of the question being exactly the same. This will have given an advantage to anybody who saw the 2805/5 2003 paper and its mark scheme, which will result in some students being awarded marks for simply remembering what they have read on the past paper and mark scheme, and not for applying their knowledge of GCE Biology to the question asked.
As a student who is depending on the result of this exam to secure my university place, I am very disappointed with OCR. Inevitably, the grade boundaries will be raised for the F215 paper, as every student who saw the 2805/5 paper of June 2003 will have secured the 10 marks allocated to this question in F215 June 2012. This will make it harder for me, and every other student who did not see the 2805/5 paper, to secure their places at university, with students possibly losing out on their university place due to OCR's exact repetition of a question from a previous year.
I understand that many questions are reworded over the years, using different content and different scenarios, but the exact repetition of a question is unacceptable. I would like a response from somebody who is responsible for setting this paper, not a generic computer automated reply. I would like to know how OCR will set the grade boundaries for F215 June 2012, due to the fact that some candidates will have had an advantage over others, due to OCR's inability to set a fair and original question.
Yours faithfully,
My name
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Did anybody else notice this? I would like more people to complain to maximise the chance of action being taken by OCR.