Students had hints before exam
An exam board is investigating suggestions that some teachers gave students hints about what questions would be in an A-level biology exam.
Discussions in an online student forum ahead of OCR's A2 biology practical identified key areas for revision.
OCR said it would watch the results to see if anyone had gained an advantage.
Last year the same exam was annulled after some students were given data others had to work out for themselves.
The exam is in two parts: an experiment that candidates have to carry out, then a question involving the use of a microscope.
This year the first part involved what is known as a Benedict's test for reducing sugars, involving dissolving a food sample in a water bath, applying some Benedict's solution and heating it.
In the second part, students had to draw and annotate what they could see on a pre-prepared slide of a kidney.
Ahead of the exam, a user of a student discussion forum asked what ideas others had about what would be in the exam, and suggested kidneys might be something to learn about.
One replied: "My teacher randomly covered kidneys today and offered no explanation. Also we covered yesterday a Benedict's test of a non-reducing sugar... can't be coincidence."
Another said: "It's more than likely going to be food tests, and kidneys for Q2, as I've been lead to believe."
And another added: "Pretty sure it's kidney and food tests."
'Revision list'
The person who had begun the thread said later: "Wot about kidneys? All the teachers have been on about this for the past couple of weeks with very strong hints."
Another who had previously mentioned kidneys and food tests wrote: "Our teachers have had a look and gave us a revision list ...".
And another recounted this experience: "In my last lesson my teachers made us do this practical practice sheet on the kidney - all about the different areas and what's in them etc so yeah I would say that is going to be the microscope question."
A further student was equally definite about what would be in the question involving use of a microscope: "The microscope is on kidneys! That's for sure, my teacher would not lie."
She later added: "Yes, she gave us a *MAJOR* hint so no reason to disbelieve her. We looked through kidney slides today as well, spent a full 1 hour looking down a microscope at the kidney! She wants us to be 'familiar' with it."
And another 18-year-old student at Park Lane College, Leeds, wrote excitedly: "Ooooo I just found out something!! My teacher just randomly taught us how to create our own water bath.. she practically told us it was going to be in the exam!!"
The college's director of professional and general education, Anne Hurworth, said this had been a misunderstanding by the student.
"Wherever possible, the science department uses electric water baths in the science labs for health and safety reasons, however it is far from unusual for AS and A2 students to have to make their own water baths for certain experiments.
"This occurred just prior to the exams when it was discovered that the newly refurbished labs were having some gas supply issues. It became apparent that not enough gas was getting to all the taps in the labs, and the college was still resolving the technical problem before the exam period started.
"Sadly, it would seem that this student mistakenly interpreted the sudden switch to manually creating water baths just prior to the exams as having more meaning than it in fact did. The issue was resolved quickly and in time for the start of the exam period."
But another student also said: "Kidneys a deffo so revise everything. And the first question we were hinted by our techa that its got to do something with a mini water bath u have to make of ur own so is temperature and enzymes related to this?"
And after the exam, one of the candidates wrote that the required drawings of what had been visible through a microscope had been "very hard" to do, adding: "However I gotta thank whoever said it was going to be on kidneys and foodtests!!"
While another said: "Thank God I revised Benedict's otherwise I wouldn't remember any of it!"
Specimen results
A parent who contacted the BBC said she was writing to the exam board about what had happened.
The parent - who asked not to be identified - said it was "quite shocking".
There is also a suggestion that specimen results had been available to some students who had been unable to obtain them in the experiment - as in last year's exam.
In a statement, the board said: "OCR is aware that, as is the case every year, various suggestions as to what might be in the practical examination were circulating on the internet.
"We will be closely examining the results from any centre where there are grounds for suspicion to ascertain if any candidate was unfairly advantaged."
A spokesman said the board had not issued any specimen results to exam centres.
One student who took the exam told the BBC News website that OCR issues a preliminary planning exercise a few months ahead of the exam each year, as part of the overall assessment, and the subject of that is always what subsequently appears in the real thing.
As this year's was about kidneys it was no surprise when that came up.
She did not think it would have been any advantage to have revised the Benedict's test as the procedure was spelt out on the question paper.
Source: BBC News, 28th May 2008.
27th May 2008
