238 A-level H2 Chemistry exam scripts stolen in the UK
A parcel containing 238 scripts for the 2017 GCE A-Level H2 Chemistry Paper 3 was stolen from a courier in the United Kingdom, the Singapore Examinations & Assessment Board (SEAB) said Friday (23 February).
Students from four junior colleges – Anderson JC (58 scripts), Anglo-Chinese JC (60 scripts), Hwa Chong Institution (60 scripts) and Nanyang JC (60 scripts) – were affected, SEAB said in a statement. They comprised 3 per cent of the 8,843 school candidates who sat for the paper.
The theft occurred on 16 November 2017 while the parcel was in transit from Cambridge Assessment to the examiner. The case is under UK police investigations and the scripts have not been recovered.
Chief Executive of SEAB, Tan Lay Choo, said, “SEAB has been working closely with Cambridge Assessment to ensure a valid and fair assessment of the affected candidates. Cambridge Assessment has asked SEAB to convey its sincere apologies to the affected candidates for this regrettable incident, and has given its assurance that it would review its processes to prevent a recurrence.”
Affected candidates have been graded despite the theft. Cambridge Assessment and SEAB considered the candidates’ performance in three other Chemistry papers, which comprise 65 per cent of the final grade and the cohort’s performance in the subject. They also take into account the candidates’ school-based examination results for the subject.
Following the assessment, all 238 candidates obtained at least a pass grade with 81 per cent scoring As and Bs for H2 Chemistry.
In addition, the candidates are offered the option of a re-examination of the paper in April 2018. For those who are serving national service, they can opt to retake the paper in November. For those who take up the re-examination, they will be given the better of the awarded grade and re-examination grade.
