Wrong paper, missing formula sheets among several problems SIM-UOL students faced during exams

SINGAPORE - When John (not his real name) sat his mathematics exam on the afternoon of May 7, he was surprised to find that it was the same paper students were given in 2022.

The first-year finance major from the Singapore Institute of Management-University of London (SIM-UOL) was one of about 50 students from various courses who took the exam at the RNN Conference Centre in Cecil Street, along with others sitting the same exam at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Eunos and the Avantus Training venue in Jurong East, that afternoon.

The 2022 paper they were given – seen by The Straits Times – had earlier been uploaded to an internal portal for students as practice before the examination, and was accompanied by the answer key and commentary from examiners.

Meanwhile, those who sat the exam in the morning that same day were given a completely different paper, which was dated 2024.

“Before the exam, someone had asked about a particular question in the 2022 paper in a group chat for students, and when I actually sat it, I saw the same question pop up,” said John, who declined to be named as he is concerned about the possible consequences of speaking out.

The 25-year-old added that he felt it gave an unfair advantage to those who took the exam in the afternoon, especially those who had practised with the 2022 paper beforehand.

However, UOL will not make students retake the exam. In an e-mail to students on May 9, the university said this was to “ensure minimum disruption” to students.

In the e-mail, signed off by UOL associate director of registry services Jonathan Seddon, and seen by ST, the university acknowledged that an incorrect paper was given, and said it was a past-year paper that was not archived.

Mr Seddon apologised for the mistake and said the exam board will ensure that no student is disadvantaged because of this issue.

A UOL spokesperson reiterated this position when ST asked the university how it plans to ensure fairness in grading the students in this situation, but did not provide further details.

That was not the only issue that students faced during the ongoing exam period, which runs from April 29 to June 13.

On May 9, some students sitting a statistics exam across all three venues were not given formula sheets that they were supposed to get. The exam is for a module that is a prerequisite for other advanced modules.

The issue was highlighted in a publicly accessible Google document started by affected students to collate their exam complaints, with the first one made on April 29.

In response to queries, the UOL spokesperson said that affected students in that statistics exam could either accept their eventual grade, or retake the exam for free in October.

The spokesperson added that markers will take into account the absence of formula sheets for questions that require them, to “ensure no one is disadvantaged as a result”.

Also, students who sat the paper will be considered as having met the requirements and can progress further in their degree courses.

Besides issues with the exam papers, some SIM-UOL students have faced other problems, including being turned away from exam venues despite having arrived an hour in advance, as instructed.

A spokesperson for the British Council, which administers the exams at all three venues, said in response to queries that students scheduled to take a morning paper on the first day of the exams on April 29 were unable to do so as the information given to students, including reporting time, did not tally with that in the exam system.

“These exams have been rescheduled and affected candidates have now been able to successfully sit their exams with no further incident.”

Responding on May 15, the spokesperson added that about 100 candidates were affected on April 29, but that the British Council has administered about 10,000 exams successfully, with no issues, to around 3,700 students since the start of the exams.

When asked if this was the first time its students had faced such problems during the exam period, an SIM spokesman said it has been in contact with the British Council since the beginning of the exam season, but did not elaborate further.

He added that SIM also checks with UOL daily to ensure that student requests are received and addressed.

“We continue to extend our support in every way possible, and students may reach out to us at

students@sim.edu.sg

for assistance any time,” he said.

ST had earlier reported that

SIM-UOL students were unhappy at having to pay an administrative fee of $203

for each exam paper in this current exam season. Previously, they were charged a single fee.

The British Council said at the time that the fees reflected the costs of administering the exams according to UOL requirements, on a large scale across different venues for several weeks.