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Exams body fails on test questions

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The Ombudsman has found 'serious weakness' in the way the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority sets up its test questions.

The watchdog received 100 complaints from students in April and May about unclear instructions in a question in the Hong Kong A-level Use of English listening paper on April 5.

In the question, candidates were given a taped conversation between the host of a survivor contest and competitors, and asked to 'put ticks or crosses' to identify which of 11 items the competitors were allowed to use in the contest.

According to the original marking scheme, candidates were required to 'tick' items allowed and 'cross' items not allowed. The authority said it found that 93 per cent of candidates had ticked the allowed items and crossed the 'not allowed' ones, according to 'convention'.

But 7 per cent had ticked the allowed items, and left all the remaining boxes blank.

The authority finally revised the marking scheme so that marks were given to the 'intended answers' by students as inferred by markers. For those who used ticks only and left the remaining boxes blank, the blank boxes were identified as 'not allowed' items, contrary to the original marking scheme.

As a result, students complained that the authority changed the marking scheme unreasonably.

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