Principals outraged at huge scaling-up of exam marks

By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK

The Qualifications Authority has been forced to increase the results of a Bursary maths exam by 10 to 15 per cent because it was too difficult.

Secondary principals say the scaling-up is "massive" and are appalled that such an increase has been necessary.

Of the 8700 students who sat the maths with calculus exam in November, thousands would have gained less than 50 per cent had the results not been boosted.

It is the first time the 10-year-old authority has had to scale the results of a Bursary exam that much.

"Overall, the results were far lower than they should have been," said spokesman Bill Lennox. "Parts of the exam were far more difficult than they should have been."

The authority received complaints about the exam's difficulty from teachers and students throughout the country who claimed it was badly written and unfair.

Mr Lennox said the scaling, which was prompted by the lower-than-usual marks, largely affected students with average results.

The authority has launched an inquiry to find out how the panel of examiners got away with setting such a difficult calculus exam.

Extra moderators are also expected to check the 2001 calculus exam to prevent problems.

Secondary Principals Association president Tom Robson said it was a disgrace that the exam had to be scaled more than 10 per cent.

"That's massive - it shows some really serious deficiencies. Last year's exams were amongst the poorest they [the authority] have had," said Mr Robson, also referring to the mistakes found in the authority's 2000 School Certificate maths exam.

Mr Robson said he was pleased the authority had recognised the problem after showing "little interest" when original complaints were laid about the exam.

Scaling has produced a provisional median result of 53 per cent for 2001 Bursary calculus students, compared with a median of 55 per cent in 1999.

Mr Lennox said the exam was "not impossible" as most able students gained high marks, even before they were scaled.

The authority adjusts all Bursary exam results through scaling each year, depending on an exam's degree of difficulty and the results, but they are not usually scaled more than 5 to 10 per cent.

Bursary results became available yesterday on the authority's information phone line, 0900-611-11. Calls cost 99c a minute.

About 7500 students called in the first four hours.