Published by Student Direct: Mancunion


Errors in exam scripts have led to many students receiving apologies from the University of Manchester after being asked incorrect questions.



Students taking Advanced English Language in Use I were told 45 minutes into their exam in January not to answer the first question as it missed out key phrases. “Between the time it took invigilators to contact the exam office, for our administrator to check the original version of the paper, and then contact the teacher who had set the paper, 45 minutes had gone by,” said Director of University-Wide Language Programmes Dr John Morley.





Students were asked to ignore the question and concentrate on the following three. It was later discovered that the error was caused by staff using different versions of Microsoft Word. “It would be patently unjust on our part to suggest that there would be any [penalties],” continued Morley.



“We will be contacting students again to apologise and to reassure them.”



Elsewhere in the University, over a dozen students sitting the ‘Modernity and its Forms in Catalan Cult and Society’ exam had been told throughout the course to answer one of seven questions in their exam, however, were shocked to find they had to answer two when in the exam hall.



Course lecturer Adrià Castellsferrando has emailed the students apologising for the error and arranged a meeting with them and their Course Convener, Professor Christopher Perriam, to discuss the issue.