By Gavin Mackintosh-
A fresher mathematics genius has complained at the failure of both the exam board and Oxford University to explain how segments of his A Level paper went missing last year, denying him a place at his first choice university of Oxford.
As final year A level students prepare to sit their exams this year, questions arise as to the reliability of the marking system if papers go missing without full accountability.
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Jack Graham, 18,(pictured) was denied a place at Oxford University despite evidence that not all his exam papers were marked by the exam board., and some went missing.
He took his GCSE exams in 2023 whilst studying with Kings Maths School in Lambeth- one of the best schools for Maths in the UK
Despite the missing papers, Mr Graham ended up with an A grade, but expects he would have got the A star grade he needed to secure a place at the university.
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He and his father have lamented the fact the university was not even flexible enough to hold him a place for the next year, this year, in light of the unfortunate situation which was not his fault.
Young Jack told The Eye Of Media.Com: ‘It is really sad and disappointing that even a year later, there has been no apology or any explanation as to how my exam paper went missing, and why no special provisions was made to mitigate an error caused by academic professionals.
”I would still like explanation about this from the university of the exam board. I have given up pushing for answers because it hasn’t doing me any favours. I am now £15,000 in debt through student’s loans, and still have to work at Primark to support my overall expenses”.
Jack’s father Andy echoed his son’s frustrations. ”It’s just so bad how my son has been treated. These institutions are so inflexible, its disgraceful. We did not ask for any favours, just for the system to be fair to everybody, but they all let us down.
I just hope pupils taking the exam this year do not face similar unfortunate experiences’
You can’t expect young people to take responsibility for the errors of professional people, it’s just not done’.
Regulator, Ofqual last year promised to look into our inquiry on how prevalent missing exam papers are, and how it intended to resolve the case of Jack Graham, and at the same time assure prospective exam sitting pupils that the integrity of the marking process will remain at the highest level of diligence.
The British Public expect to be secure in the knowledge that students will always get the appropriate marks equivalent to their performance in exams, without some extraneous factor like missing exam papers scuppering their chances of getting the proper marks.
It also raises questions about the extent to which some students can be unfairly disadvantaged by unscrupulous marking if there is no robust level of accountability in the system.
Ofqual was contacted for comment in relation to the inquiry, but had not responded by the time of publication.
Oxford university was also contacted for comment.
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