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Writing in pencil !!! Please Help

aom

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I did all my Paper 33 Biology AS in pencil. Will I lose all the marks ???!!!
 
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I did all my Paper 33 Biology AS in pencil. Will I lose all the marks ???!!!

[http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110510235137AAq89Vp]

CIE practical level exam... is this a problem?

In the first page of the cie exams it says to write in dark blue or black ink. The problem is that yesterday I did my biology practical exam and many of my answers (not all of them however) but all of the tables, diagrams, graphs and calculations were done with pencil, and I didn't have time to go over it with a pen later... Is that a problem?

Best Answer

It could be. The black/blue ink is so it can be photocopied accurately if necessary (photocopies of real exam papers are used to train examiners) and cannot be altered once written.

Pencil is a "no no" as it could be rubbed out and altered after the exam - by yourself, a teacher, the examiner or anyone who has access to the paper. So you cannot guarantee 100% that anything in pencil is the genuine work of the examinee.

When I was a A level examiner I was told not to mark anything in pencil. But examiners do tend to want to give good marks so we rarely follow that instruction to the letter if there are a few items in pencil. If there is a lot of pencil work then there is a good chance that your paper will be forwarded to a senior examiner or even the chief examiner to make a decision. If there is no evidence of tampering then it may be accepted.

In future, don't even take a pencil into the exam room. Do everything in ink and never cross anything out. Leave in your doodles, notes, spidergrams etc as you may get credit for something you forgot to put in your essay. Never cross out, erase or delete anything.
 
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what if our calculation is roughly done (means that there are a lot of cutting's and re writing) will that hamper the grading system
 
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hey i jsu used pencil in making dat plasmolysis table whole of it even the values....is that a problem? plz help....
 
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i had been one of those asking this question last session (a lot of pencil work).. don't think the grades were affected.
but as clearly advised everywhere,remember to switch to pens from now on.
 
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I did all my Paper 33 Biology AS in pencil. Will I lose all the marks ???!!!

Eventhough the use of pencil is not allowed, it won't really effect your grade. At most, the examiner will cut one mark as a whole for not following the instructions. He just can't discard your paper. The only reason pencils are not allowed is because the graphite writing fades away with time. But I don't think that would be a problem here due to the high quality paper used in the examinations. So just be relaxed and concentrate on your next exams. I think you've had enough tension in this regard. Trust me, the maximum examiner can penalise you is with one mark. Plus, you will not be the only one with the examination written in pencil.
 

aom

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Eventhough the use of pencil is not allowed, it won't really effect your grade. At most, the examiner will cut one mark as a whole for not following the instructions. He just can't discard your paper. The only reason pencils are not allowed is because the graphite writing fades away with time. But I don't think that would be a problem here due to the high quality paper used in the examinations. So just be relaxed and concentrate on your next exams. I think you've had enough tension in this regard. Trust me, the maximum examiner can penalise you is with one mark. Plus, you will not be the only one with the examination written in pencil.
Thanks so much feels much better now. :)
 
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I have done all my working in pencil and written all my answers in pen. And the exam officer asked us to put a slash on all rough work and I thought rough work means working so I went ahead and put a slash on my working. Would that still be counted?
 
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I have done all my working in pencil and written all my answers in pen. And the exam officer asked us to put a slash on all rough work and I thought rough work means working so I went ahead and put a slash on my working. Would that still be counted?
you mean you even put a slash on your answers....
 
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