Pupils are being rewarded for writing obscenities in their GCSE English examinations even when it has nothing to do with the question.
One pupil who wrote “f*** off” was given marks for accurate spelling and conveying a meaning successfully.
His paper was marked by Peter Buckroyd, a chief examiner who has instructed fellow examiners to mark in the same way. He told trainee examiners recently to adhere strictly to the mark scheme, to the extent that pupils who wrote only expletives on their papers should be awarded points.
On the other hand… you might say, given that I assume that plenty of the questions (in these shabby, fallen days!) are fatuous and gawd-help-us daft, that a swift “Fuck off” might be an admirably pithy and considered verdict that treated the question with an entirely appropriate measure of contempt…
[Hat-tip: James @ Coffee Hoose]
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