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| Tough A-level chemistry exam sparks Twitter tears | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Distressed A-level chemistry students have taken to Twitter after exam questions they claim strayed outside the syllabus. | Distressed A-level chemistry students have taken to Twitter after exam questions they claim strayed outside the syllabus. |
| Some candidates said they were in tears after the paper - and almost 100 have written to exam board OCR to complain. | Some candidates said they were in tears after the paper - and almost 100 have written to exam board OCR to complain. |
| The last question, on a technique known as magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), left many students stumped. | The last question, on a technique known as magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), left many students stumped. |
| An OCR spokesman said the final question was "designed to be one of the most demanding". | An OCR spokesman said the final question was "designed to be one of the most demanding". |
| 'Worst paper' | 'Worst paper' |
| The spokesman said the difficulty of the paper would be taken into account when the board came to set grade boundaries during the marking process. | The spokesman said the difficulty of the paper would be taken into account when the board came to set grade boundaries during the marking process. |
| One student described himself as "gobsmacked! speechless!!", fearing his university place would be in doubt unless the next paper was better. | One student described himself as "gobsmacked! speechless!!", fearing his university place would be in doubt unless the next paper was better. |
| "Without a doubt the worst paper I have ever sat and I'm not exaggerating. It was awful," said another. | "Without a doubt the worst paper I have ever sat and I'm not exaggerating. It was awful," said another. |
| One student asked if OCR accepted tears as answers. | One student asked if OCR accepted tears as answers. |
| Candidates were given the chemical structure of a particular compound and asked to work out the structure of a "product" following a reaction. | Candidates were given the chemical structure of a particular compound and asked to work out the structure of a "product" following a reaction. |
| "It was a novel question, NMR is well known and well prepared for and is notoriously difficult," said one chemistry teacher. | "It was a novel question, NMR is well known and well prepared for and is notoriously difficult," said one chemistry teacher. |
| "This was a level up," he added. But he said "some students got it right!" | "This was a level up," he added. But he said "some students got it right!" |
| Another said he was feeling sorry for his students as the exam was "way beyond A-level standard" on two out of the four questions. | Another said he was feeling sorry for his students as the exam was "way beyond A-level standard" on two out of the four questions. |
| The OCR spokesman said the question had been designed to get students to apply their knowledge of the topic. | The OCR spokesman said the question had been designed to get students to apply their knowledge of the topic. |
| "As the final question on the chemistry paper, this is also designed to be one of the most demanding. | "As the final question on the chemistry paper, this is also designed to be one of the most demanding. |
| "Whilst the question is challenging, we need to reassure candidates that question papers are intended to include questions across a range of difficulties. | "Whilst the question is challenging, we need to reassure candidates that question papers are intended to include questions across a range of difficulties. |
| "The relative difficulty of a whole paper, in comparison with previous years' papers, is always taken into account when grade boundaries are set." | "The relative difficulty of a whole paper, in comparison with previous years' papers, is always taken into account when grade boundaries are set." |
| Last week students took to Twitter to complain about a difficult GCSE maths paper. Earlier this week others celebrated a relatively easy GCSE chemistry paper. | Last week students took to Twitter to complain about a difficult GCSE maths paper. Earlier this week others celebrated a relatively easy GCSE chemistry paper. |