Exam mishap as students given test with answers attached

In a classic example of exam season drama, first year geophysics students were given a paper with the answers at the bottom.

Students quickly realised the error and told the invigilators, who allowed the students to leave the room without starting the exam.

The test, which took place on the computers in the RSM, was uploaded as a file that also contained model answers.

It will be replaced by a coursework module and is worth 6% of first year marks for geophysics.

According to the department, the decision to replace it with coursework was taken after “immediate discussions” with the students who were due to sit the exam. It is understood that the coursework will assess the same learning objectives.

Students were starkly warned not to tell FELIX about the incident and that it should stay “within these four walls”, given the media interest in similar incidents in the past.

Mishaps like this are not unheard at Imperial. In 2014, a EIE first year paper was handed out to students with the model answers stapled to the back. After giggles from the room, the invigilators removed the solutions, and allowed students to continue with the test. The story was covered by The Daily Mail.

Last year second year students in the physics department were set an impossible question in a Quantum Mechanics exam, but were marked on it anyway.

The geophysics department told FELIX it would “of course review procedures following discussions at examiners’ meetings in June 2016”.

A college spokesperson told FELIX: “It is a College priority to adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity, ensuring that appropriate advice, support and guidance are in place to support students and staff. To this end a steering group – part of the Academic Standards Framework - is reviewing assessment practices and procedures across the College. This incident will be taken into consideration by the group as part of their ongoing review.”