[Tsunami2011]

On the day of my last exam, there was a fire alarm half way through which lasted about 20mins.. We all had to go outside,etc and stand in silence. Today, I got a letter from school saying that they've written to the exam board who will now the circumstances into account when marking our papers..What exactly does this mean?

[rachaelizabeth]

You will most likely receive special consideration due to the disruption that you experienced.

This can mean up to 5% being added onto your overall score for that exam.

[Tsunami2011]

(Original post by rachaelizabeth)
You will most likely receive special consideration due to the disruption that you experienced.

This can mean up to 5% being added onto your overall score for that exam.

Wow that would be great, considering that the fire alarm was strangely beneficial for me.

[rachaelizabeth]

(Original post by Tsunami2011)
Wow that would be great, considering that the fire alarm was strangely beneficial for me.

You may not receive any extra, though. If you returned to the hall and everyone "picked up where they left off" and still completed the set amount of time for the exam (which I assume you did) then the exam board might see the fire alarm as an advantage. After all, you had more time than the rest of the country to think through your answers and figure things out.

It just depends on what they decide is the most appropriate action.

[Selym95]

I thought you knew everything?

[Clare~Bear]

I had a fire alarm during my gcse chemsitry paper. We didn't get special consideration, but we did get extra time.

[Data]

(Original post by Tsunami2011)
On the day of my last exam, there was a fire alarm half way through which lasted about 20mins.. We all had to go outside,etc and stand in silence. Today, I got a letter from school saying that they've written to the exam board who will now the circumstances into account when marking our papers..What exactly does this mean?

The paper will be marked as normal and the marker will be unaware that special consideration might apply. The exam board will then add a small uplift in the marks to compensate for the disruption to the exam. It will probably be 1-2%.

http://www.jcq.org.uk/attachments/pu...2011102011.pdf

[Helloworld_95]

(Original post by Data)
The paper will be marked as norma and the marker will be unaware that special consideration might apply. The exam board will then add a small uplift in hte marks to compensate for the disruption to the exam. It will probably be 1-2%.

http://www.jcq.org.uk/attachments/pu...2011102011.pdf

normally the examiner will be told to give special consideration to a paper in which case they will be a bit more lenient with the mark scheme.

[Paramore<3]

I've always wanted to take a /fire exam/, they sound much more exciting than your standard A-level.


Joking aside, I hope you do get consideration, last year's cohort at my school did - we had the alarm set off about 6 times in two weeks during the summer exam season!

[Data]

(Original post by Helloworld_95)
normally the examiner will be told to give special consideration to a paper in which case they will be a bit more lenient with the mark scheme.

This isn't how it works and I'm not sure why you think it is. It would be far too haphazard if examiners were told to be 'a bit more lenient' when the amounts to give for different reasons are clearly laid down in the regulations as being a specific percentage. The examiners have no idea that special consideration will be applied.

[Tsunami2011]

(Original post by Data)
The paper will be marked as normal and the marker will be unaware that special consideration might apply. The exam board will then add a small uplift in the marks to compensate for the disruption to the exam. It will probably be 1-2%.

http://www.jcq.org.uk/attachments/pu...2011102011.pdf

Out of interest why do they bother? 1-2% is essentially nothing in regards to your marks in a standard A-Level paper.

[Data]

(Original post by Tsunami2011)
Out of interest why do they bother? 1-2% is essentially nothing in regards to your marks in a standard A-Level paper.

It is possible to get up to 5% for the most serious reason, but I agree that it is relatively small compensation for some of the things that could happen to you - you can be better off missing the exam entirely and having a grade based on your prior performance.

In this case, the break could even be an advantage (even if you don't talk to anyone else) as it may give you thinking time to tackle a question better - so a major uplift in marks probably wouldn't be justified.

[Sparky:)]

I can remember having a fire alarm half way through P1A didn't do well in it, and no special consideration


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Speckle]

We had the same thing last year. Obviously everybody had to be ushered outside and even though it was strictly no talking, we were whispering and getting answers off each other. And then we got special consideration on top, gotta love that.

[laura1234]

We were told it means that if your only 1 or 2 marks off the next grade then they will up your marks by those marks so you meet the next grade. I don't 100% know how true that is but thats what we got told by one of our teachers.