Pupils find answers to their dreams

It was the exam paper every anxious teenager dreams of - the one with the answers on the back.

Lucky secondary school students who recently sat music exams in Britain found some of the answers kindly provided by the examiners.

The music exams were sent to a number of schools ahead of this summer's examinations by the OCR exams board.

Some of the answers were in the details on the back of the papers. Pupils sat the exams before the mistake was noticed, but OCR has said they will not have to re-sit them

But did the candidates notice? Nobody knows for sure. Perhaps the current generation of 16-year-olds are just very honest or perhaps they couldn't believe their eyes.

A spokeswoman said: "OCR regrets that a printing error may have affected a small number of marks on the GCSE question paper."

But she insisted: "It is unlikely that any of the 12,000 students sitting the exam recognised the value of the information and used it."

That's not what teachers told the Times Education Supplement. It reported that one exam question asked for the name of the composer of a piece of music. The information on the back clearly said "Handel". Another question asked pupils what instrument the soloist was playing in a concert. The information gave a clue: it said "violin".

The exam board announced: "We are putting procedures into place to identify the effect this had on candidates."

But OCR doesn't say how the markers will decide between two groups of candidates: those who got the answers right after two years of hard study and those who just read the answers on the back of the paper.

Generations of exam candidates are told: "Don't forget to read the question" but perhaps now its important to add: "and the answer if you can find it".

Lesson Plan

Tell students they are going to read about UK secondary school pupils. Write the headline on the board. STudents speculate what this "answer to their dreams" might be. Students then look at the photo and caption. Ask: What is he doing? (Sitting an exam) Encourage further speculation; indicate there may be a clue in the word "answer".10 mins

Before reading, draw a 'spidergram' of exam vocabulary from the article on the board. Write exam/examination (formal word) in the middle. Then draw lines out from the centre, indicating the word groups below:

• people - candidate, marker, examiner
• exam paper - questions, answers, marks
• organisation - exam board
• verbs - sit an exam, re-sit an exam

Establish the meaning of the words. Elicit further vocabulary, eg verbs: 'cheat in an exam', 'fail/pass/take/do an exam'. 10 mins

Write the following sentences on the board. Check unknown vocabulary. Hand out article. Students read and complete sentences with one word from text. 15 mins

1. The students were doing a ___ exam.
2. The answers were on the ___ of the exam paper.
3. The students don't need to ___ the exam.
4. The exam board thinks the 12,000 students didn't use the ___.
5. The students could easily read two answers: ___ and ___.
6. The markers must decide between the two groups: those who studied ___ and those who read the answers.

Now ask the class the hypothetical question: What would you do if you found the answers on the back of an exam paper? Elicit answers, eg I'd definitely look at them, I'd try to tell my friends, I wouldn't use them etc. Encourage the correct pronunciation of "I'd" and "wouldn't". Then write the following questions on the board: What would you do if you ...

1. ... accidentally saw the exam paper before an exam?
2. ... saw somebody cheating in an exam?
3. ... arrived very late for an important exam?
4. ... suddenly felt ill in the middle of an exam?

Check the meaning of the questions. Students look up vocabulary in dictionaries. Put class into pairs and get them to ask/answer the questions. Swap pairs/repeat. Class feedback. 15 mins