Bioscience second-years unable to complete exam as calculators were wrongfully taken away

The invigilators didn’t read the exam instructions


On May 5th, half of second-year Bioscience students at Olympia were unable to complete the calculator section of the Physiology and Pharmacology exam due to calculators being wrongfully taken away.

According to an anonymous tip-off, it was the contracted invigilators that didn’t understand the instructions for the exam, not the organisers.

In a statement released on Facebook by KCL Bioscience Students’ Association, calculators were removed “for the vast majority of the exam, rendering students unable to complete the calculations section of the paper.”

The student representatives will be working closely with KCLSU to reach a compensation agreement on the lines of “students receiving marks for this section.”

Clare, a second year, has reached out directly to the Tab to say “my calculator was given back quite quickly, but I’ve heard others say that they had their’s taken for ages or weren’t told about the ‘f’ question. It was very disruptive, I kept looking around to see what was going on. Last thing you want in an exam!”

A King’s College London spokesperson said: ‘King’s is aware that due to an administrative error a misunderstanding arose regarding the use of calculators during a recent Pharmacology examination. We have sent an apology by email to all affected students and we have reviewed our procedures in order to prevent this type of misunderstanding occurring again. We are in touch with students who were affected and steps are being taken to ensure that they will not be unduly disadvantaged by what happened.’

Speaking to the Tab, a spokesperson said that “the BSA can’t comment”, meaning investigation is ongoing. If you have any information regarding this event please contact us via Facebook.