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I made a big exam mistake today, advice?

Alright folks,

Just want to get your thoughts on this. I made a stupid mistake in my two hour exam today. Two questions at 50% each. First question went well but I miss understood the second. It was an EITHER/OR question and I answered both parts. How would this second answer be marked, would the marker just disregard half of the content? Will he/she chose the better of the two aspects. Is it merely a case of I lose 25% of the exam overall? Is this situation better than say a question asking you to analyse two aspects but you only answer one? In effect I have answered both parts but obviously haven't been able to go into as much detail as I should have. Do you think the marker will take kindly to this human error. We use a positive marking system, does this make any difference?

Don't know what to expect at all in terms of a grade (it is obviously going to be much lower than what I would usually achieve) but it is an absolute bob howler on my behalf. Shouldn't be making those errors at this level, it's a hard lesson learnt. Can anyone give me some advice!?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

GoingToBurst

At my uni, if you answer more questions than you're supposed to they'll just give you the mark for the first one they come across, whether the other one is miles better or not.
Don't worry, a friend of mine completely disregarded an entire section (worth 33.33% of the exam) on our exam on Monday because she though it said answer a question from section A or B and C, not A, B and C. It happens. You should be alright.

Reply 2

SlowlorisIncognito

At my university, they would normally mark both parts of the answer and give you the marks for the better part. Obviously this depends on which university you go to. If you email whoever set the exam (usually the module leader), they will be able to tell you what they will do. If it's a positive marking system, then unfortunately your marks will be lower than you would have otherwise achieved, as your answer will probably lack detail. However, hopefully at least one of your answers will be enough to pass.

So long as you pass this question, it shouldn't matter too much, especially if this answer is good. This exam is probably only part of the grade for a module, so the rest of your grades will hopefully bring your average mark up. Unless your course is only assessed by terminal exams, this isn't a complete disaster, and you probably won't make the mistake again!

Reply 3

AntonioGramsci

Cheers for the response peeps, made me feel better. Just a couple more questions. If I get less than 40% in Q2 do I fail the whole exam, even though I'm fairly confident that my Q1 was pretty good? I'm also unsure as to whether I should email the module conveyor as this would defeat the purpose of academic integrity. He would come across my answer and be like 'Oh yeah that's his' lol.

Reply 4

SlowlorisIncognito

Original post by AntonioGramsci

If the exam was taken anonymously, maybe email your tutor instead? They'll know what the procedures are. Most of these things vary university to university and maybe even department to department. Do you have some kind of handbook for your course? The answers might be in there.

I believe at my university you only have to average over 40% to pass, but at other universities this may be different.

Reply 5

GoingToBurst

Original post by AntonioGramsci

Again, I think it'll depend on your uni. At mine, as long as your overall mark is above the pass mark then you're fine :smile:

Reply 6

AntonioGramsci

I'll have a look in the handbook, if it's not in there I might as well wait until results day. Nothing I can change about it now I guess, hopefully it's not too damaging.

Reply 7

Origami Bullets

Most important point though: there's absolutely nothing you can do about it at this stage. So, move on, revise for your next exam(s), and worry about this after your last exam.

Reply 8

Stephanie_12

I did this in my access course exam last year, but it ended up being okay. The good thing is that you have all the other modules and exams so you will be okay. There isn't any point in worrying at this stage, I spent all summer in a state thinking I'd ruined my chances of ever getting to uni, but this situation has so many different aspects because the exam is only a small part of the overall grade. The worst that can happen is you repeat the exam in August (though I'm sure it won't come to that).

Reply 9

AntonioGramsci

Thanks for the reassurance. The exam was 60% of the module and I did really well in the other 40% so hopefully overall it will not be disastrous. Just gutted that I made such a basic error! I've finished exams now and the results are probably released about a month today. Fingers crossed.