Undergraduate Aero students accidently sit postgraduate exam after paper mix up

Undergraduate aeronautical students were given a postgraduate exam paper to sit this week, with no-one realising until the end of the exam the mistake that was made.

Third year, fourth year and postgraduate students sat their Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) exams on Monday, with undergraduates and postgraduates seated in different exam rooms.

Due to an apparent shortage of papers for the undergraduates in one of the exam rooms, an invigilator was sent to get more papers, and brought two students the exam script only intended for postgraduate cohort.

With the papers having the same module title and being of identical duration, the students didn’t realise the error initially until it was too late. They turned in their scripts once the exam had finished, and have been told that they will be marked and graded with the other papers.

Sources from the aeronautics department have told Felix that the papers covered different CFD material, although the module content is exactly the same. The postgraduate paper allegedly covered more theoretical derivations than the undergraduate equivalent, although the department stated that the exams were apparently of similar difficulty.

Postgraduates and undergraduates are taught the same modules independently throughout the year. The department told us that this is because of space constraints and also to limit class sizes.

When contacted, the Aeronautics admin team told Felix that the mix-up was “a simple human error,” and that the students would be offered the marks of the paper they sat, but could re-sit the module if they were unhappy with the results. “Be reassured we are doing everything to assist them so that they are not disadvantaged in any way.”

Felix spoke to one of the students involved, and said that he thought the department had handled the mix-up satisfactorily but that he would probably be re-sitting the exam after all. “I don’t know if it was hard because it was a different paper or just because I hadn’t revised! But I think the department is dealing with it well.”

Pascal Loose, Deputy President (Education) told Felix: “It is a very unfortunate incident, however the department’s immediate response is very positive. We will be working with our Academic Reps to make sure that, if necessary, mitigating circumstances for these students are considered. Imperial College Union is committed to working with the College to ensure that the education our members receive is world-leading.”