Exam questions altered after Manchester bombing

Examiners admit they removed any content about terrorism for fear of causing distress to pupils

GCSE and A level exams were altered at the last moment in the wake of the Manchester terrorist attack to remove sensitive content, the awarding bodies have revealed. Examiners combed through more than 2,000 papers for questions that might cause distress to students, and some last-minute changes were made.

Any mention of terrorism was removed from a Religious Studies GCSE question, and also from a General Studies paper, as exam board Edexcel said it would be an “unnecessary distraction” to pupils sitting the exams.

The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) phoned schools likely to have been affected by the Manchester Arena atrocity to alert them about an AS level French paper which mentioned Ariana Grande. The Welsh WJEC Eduqas exam board also took the precaution of removing a reference to Islamic State from a Media Studies GCSE paper.

“The events of the summer shocked everyone, so we all felt that it was our duty to make sure that our exams didn’t add to anyone’s distress,” said Philip Bridgehouse, customer engagement manager at AQA.

“We got straight to work looking at every single exam paper that hadn’t yet been sat, and spotting any questions that might upset students.

“It was a massive task to review all our exam papers in a short time, but it was a really important thing to do. The biggest challenge was deciding where to take action, as we wanted to protect students but not cause schools any unnecessary inconvenience.”

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), the representative body for the six largest exam boards in the UK, agreed to lower the threshold for deciding which pupils can have “special consideration” for their circumstances when it came to awarding grades.

Schools are able to apply for special consideration either for pupils who were absent due to circumstances beyond their control, or for those whose performance may have been affected.

Previously students were required to have sat at least 40 per cent of an assessment – either by submitting coursework or taking earlier exam modules – to be considered, but this summer, exam boards lowered the threshold to 25 per cent. Michael Turner, the director general of JCQ, told The Daily Telegraph that checking through all the exam papers was a huge undertaking, but it was “the right thing to do”.

“As far as I am aware this is the first time that this has been done, and certainly on this scale. Exam papers are written almost a year in advance,” he said. “But they did it because it is the right thing to do. The ripple effect extends beyond the immediate vicinity – you had young people attending the concert, or people who have friends or family attending it.”