AcciDENTAL errors in exam paper leave students stumped

Photo credit: King’s College London

• Paper contained grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
• Multiple choice questions presented with ‘no correct answer‘.
• Question was repeated twice, with only one version containing the right answer.

Dental students were left befuddled after a third-year exam contained several mistakes. 

The paper, sat in May, was made up of multiple choice questions only. Some candidates believe the errors adversely affected their performance, with their results being released today.

In one instance, a multiple choice question with “no correct answer” led one student to spend “an unnecessary amount of time” trying to find an answer that was “not available in the list”.

King’s, who boast one of the best dental institutes in the country, experienced a similar blunder earlier this year – a fourth-year multiple choice paper was reported to have had a minor error.

We at .@kingsdentistry are very excited about the latest @worlduniranking We were again ranked 1st in the UK, and jumped to 4th in the world

— Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King's (@kingsdentistry) March 31, 2016

One student said that he felt “disrespected” by the College, claiming:

“This was a massive dent to my confidence, as I felt that perhaps my revision was not as effective as I had thought, which lead me to constantly doubt myself”.

Others, however, described the complaints as “pretty petty”.

The Dental Institute said in a statement to Roar News, that it “is not aware of any issues” with the Year 3 MCQ dental examination.

They added, “The Dental Institute does its utmost to ensure all examinations are fair, valid and reliable. External examiners are an integral part of the process, working with us to ensure the robustness of the exams.”

The complaint is currently being dealt with by the student council.