UoM Economics students set exam with ‘unanswerable’ questions

Economics students at the University of Manchester were left ‘outraged’ after multiple interruptions, mistakes and complications in a second year exam.

The Micro 2B exam was sat on the afternoon of Monday 22nd May, and was worth 70% of the module. Students were left angry and frustrated after they were stopped multiple times in order to correct faults on the paper, unable to even attempt some questions due to spelling mistakes which made them unclear.

Two questions on the exam even had to be removed due to too many mistakes, and the paper had a significantly higher amount of mathematical questions in comparison to sample papers, meaning students were left struggling for time.

The university has emailed every student that took the exam after receiving complaints about the paper and the interruptions by invigilators to amend mistakes and instruct candidates.

The email included an apology that there was “no correct solution for Question 6” and that consequently it was communicated in the exam hall that “Question 6 and Question 7 (which were based on the same set of information) should be disregarded”. The department say they are “genuinely sorry” about these issues, and that senior staff and the external examiner are “already looking into this examination and the issues raised”.

Second year student, Dana Jeeb, describes how she emailed the university following the “shambles” of an exam, after she was left “extremely disappointed with the way it was administered”.

“Firstly, we were stopped repeatedly to correct faults on the paper. Secondly, the questions were very unclear and some could not be understood because of spelling mistakes. Thirdly, two of the questions that were given had to be removed because there were too many mistakes on the paper. This means we have a lower chance of attaining more marks.”

The university say their “ultimate goal” is to come up with a “fair solution” for the students involved, and are currently gathering all the information they can about the exam.

A further update is expected by the end of the week, and students are asked to contact the Economics Exam Officer if they have any further concerns.