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Thursday 3 July 2008

Swearing

I am not a sweary blogger and do not swear over-much in real life either. When at school back in the 1970s and 1980s (just!) swearing at school in front of a teacher was just not an option and as for writing obscenities on an exam paper... So I was amazed to learn that a pupil who in answer to the GCSE exam question "Describe the room you are sitting in", wrote "Fuck off". I was even more amazed to learn that this puipl received two marks for this answer as it was spelt correctly and conveyed meaning, apparently a further mark would have been awarded if the candidate had finished his "answer" with an exclamation mark.

Peter Buckroyd from the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) said that
"It would be wicked to give it zero because it does show some very basic skills we are looking for - like conveying some meaning and some spelling"
I would say that whilst it may convey meaning and be spelt correctly, it in no way answers the question adequately.

A spokesman for AQA later said that "if a candidate makes any sort of response to a question then it must at least be given consideration to be awarded a mark".


Education, education, education, ever rising standards in education? Fuck off!

1 comment:

Snowolf said...

Perhaps it was a comment on the banality and idiocy of the question?

I find myself full of admiration for the little scamp, no manners, but what a critic!