Thousands of teenagers sitting their GCSE music exam had a pleasant surprise when they discovered some of the answers had been included on the paper.
The Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) exam board is blaming a printing error for the embarrassing blunder, which affected 12,000 pupils sitting the exam on 16th May.
In many centres the mistake wasn't noticed until the exam had already started, leaving eagle-eyed candidates at a potential advantage over their less observant counterparts.
As part of the exam the pupils had to listen to, identify and answer questions on several compositions - the details of which were conveniently provided in the copyright acknowledgement on the reverse of the question paper.
An OCR statement said: "OCR regrets that a printing error may have affected a small number of marks on the GCSE Music paper which was taken on Friday 16 May. A maximum of five per cent (5%) of the marks on this particular paper are potentially affected.
"All exam papers have a copyright statement dealing with source material on the back page. This one in particular had more detail than is usual in a music paper. OCR has received a handful of calls from schools querying the situation. Since there has been media comment, there are still only 20 queries from teachers that have been received. It is unlikely that many of the 12,000 students sitting the examination would have recognised the value of the information in the copyright statement and subsequently used it.
"However, OCR is putting procedures in place to identify the effect, if any, this had on candidates and to make allowances accordingly to ensure that no candidate is disadvantaged. There will be no need for candidates to retake this component. OCR is confident that the procedures put in place will ensure that all candidates get the grades that their hard work deserves."
The new exams watchdog Ofqual has been informed of the incident.
The Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) exam board is blaming a printing error for the embarrassing blunder, which affected 12,000 pupils sitting the exam on 16th May.
In many centres the mistake wasn't noticed until the exam had already started, leaving eagle-eyed candidates at a potential advantage over their less observant counterparts.
As part of the exam the pupils had to listen to, identify and answer questions on several compositions - the details of which were conveniently provided in the copyright acknowledgement on the reverse of the question paper.
An OCR statement said: "OCR regrets that a printing error may have affected a small number of marks on the GCSE Music paper which was taken on Friday 16 May. A maximum of five per cent (5%) of the marks on this particular paper are potentially affected.
"All exam papers have a copyright statement dealing with source material on the back page. This one in particular had more detail than is usual in a music paper. OCR has received a handful of calls from schools querying the situation. Since there has been media comment, there are still only 20 queries from teachers that have been received. It is unlikely that many of the 12,000 students sitting the examination would have recognised the value of the information in the copyright statement and subsequently used it.
"However, OCR is putting procedures in place to identify the effect, if any, this had on candidates and to make allowances accordingly to ensure that no candidate is disadvantaged. There will be no need for candidates to retake this component. OCR is confident that the procedures put in place will ensure that all candidates get the grades that their hard work deserves."
The new exams watchdog Ofqual has been informed of the incident.
