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Original poster

Eton caught cheating on Pre-U

232 replies

BossWitch · 26/08/2017 08:22

Saw this on bbc's papers round up but can only find a full story link in the Fail, sorry.

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4824050/amp/Eton-deputy-head-quits-amid-claims-helped-pupils-cheat.html

Basically, a deputy head who was a senior examiner and involved in setting the exam leaked the exam materials to staff and students for one of the economics papers for the Cambridge Pre-U so all those marks have been disregarded. Deputy head has now left the school.

I'm quite shocked. What on earth was he thinking? And how much pressure must he have been under to ensure results that he thought this was a good idea?

Any Eton parents about on mumsnet today? What are your thoughts?

OP posts:
Ta1kinPeece · 27/08/2017 12:43

According to a comment on another forum - he tutored them on a "practice" paper - which turned out to be the real one.

The ethical integrity of any pupil who did not raise it the moment they opened the real paper has to be called into question.

But the ethics of Eton and CIE are much more concerning.

And I am utterly certain that other schools with the resources to do so are doing exactly the same - they have just not been exposed / been so sodding blatant.

SpencerSweetPeas · 27/08/2017 12:58

I don't think many people become chief examiners out of the goodness of their hearts - knowing the syllabus back to front, and the types of answers the examiners want will help you to get better results (even without cheating like in this case).

If you didn't have that 'perk' by working for a different board from the one you taught, I doubt you'd find as many people willing to do it (I'm pretty sure the pay isn't particularly good!). And surely expecting teachers to be good on two full syllabi is a bit unfair - it isn't like they don't have enough to do already!

EmpressoftheMundane · 27/08/2017 14:46

Given the large number of students sitting these exams, surely everyone would be more than happy to kick in an extra £1 to pay for some one disinterested to set the exam! It's common sense.

OutToGetYou · 27/08/2017 17:01

It sounds like a right Eton mess to me.....

Lweji · 27/08/2017 17:47

"It is not clear how the pupils became 'inadvertent recipients' of the questions, but Mr Tanweer is the only person implicated."

I meant in relation to the other staff. Did the other teaching staff know where the questions had come from?

Ta1kinPeece · 27/08/2017 17:51

Other teaching staff may not have known about the questions.
The SLT at Eton must have known he was the bod who wrote the exam.

The pupils may have been "inadvertent" in advance
but the moment they saw the paper they were complicit

unless this has been hushed up by CIE / Eton since June
and you start to wonder what else they hush up

Universities should start to ask questions about the grades they see

Lweji · 27/08/2017 17:57

Sorry, I should have also copied this bit

"Mo Tanweer, head of Economics and Politics and one of the school's principal examiners, sent exam 'practice questions' to three colleagues as part of a revision programme, and some pupils have received these 'inadvertently' according to a letter sent to the boys."

And from The Guardian
"The CIE investigation concluded that Tanweer shared emails with other teachers, constituting a breach of exam security. It related to questions in a section of the two-hour exam in which pupils were asked to write three essays from a choice of six questions."

This is the story that is odd, considering that only Mr Tanweer was implicated and no other staff members.

It's not said how this was found out.

Ta1kinPeece · 27/08/2017 18:02

Lweji
Have a scan through the comments on the Fail website ..... I've not worked out where the source is but its out there somewhere
the boys' essays were identical because they had practiced

Tanweer was an arrogant muppet to be so blatant
but I'll bet good money that hiring CIE examiners is standard practice
CIE should be "de accredited" until they put their house in order

Eastpoint · 27/08/2017 18:02

Dds' school had a head examiner in one subject on its staff. The school sat a different board, there is no way they would compromise the integrity of the school & its pupils.

Lweji · 27/08/2017 18:07

the boys' essays were identical because they had practiced

Oh, thanks, I missed it.

ImperialBlether · 27/08/2017 18:14

I was an A level teacher and examiner for many years. We were told that every topic on the syllabus had to be covered at least once every four exams (January and June.) This meant that you could certainly have a go at working out what might come up in any given exam. I was told that if it didn't come up after four exams there were questions about why it was on the syllabus.

Oblomov17 · 27/08/2017 18:26

I always suspected that quite a lot of cheating went on in many private schools.

EmpressoftheMundane · 27/08/2017 20:15

I only have girls, and we could never afford Eton anyway. I feel minded to give the institution the benefit of the doubt. Tanweer hadn't been there long; was found out; and chucked out.
I wonder less about Erin and more about how the exam boards run things. No way should an A-level teacher be writing the exam that their own pupils will take. It's mickey-mouse.

Ta1kinPeece · 27/08/2017 21:03

empress
I agree with you.
Eton are the school that were caught out.
CIE exams are taken all over the place by girls and boys
This situation shows a level of ethics that should disallow their exams from UK university entrance.

sendsummer · 27/08/2017 22:48

Ta1kin do you think that CIE are the only board that allow examiners to teach their exams or are the only one that 'has been found out'?Newspapers always like running a story with 'Eton' as it sells, Eton /preUs are an obvious target to capitalise on prejudices of exploited advantage in the private sector

OutToGetYou · 27/08/2017 23:25

Just wondering who you think should write the exams, if you don't think teachers who teach the subject should?
Out of interest.
I mean, do people think maybe a biology teacher should write the economics exam?

Disclaimer - I've worked for CIE and OCR and UCLES in the past, though nothing to do with exams, at all

EmpressoftheMundane · 27/08/2017 23:36

I think teachers who are setting an exam for a particular exam board should not be teaching students who will be sitting that same exam board's exam. If there is more than one exam board, surely it is not hard to break things up?

If I have misunderstood the situation, then why can't academics, slogging away, being paid a pittance, waiting for professorships write the exams? Surely a post-doc at a good university would be up to the task.

OutToGetYou · 28/08/2017 00:03

Sometimes they do, but there aren't that many of them and you can't force them to do it. My friend who is a biology teacher marks exams. It's up to her school what exam board they use for the exams, not her.

You do, as does everyone who works for the exam board, I did and I was only in HR, have to declare any interests, so that would include what year you teach, or as a parent any exams your kids are due to sit, etc. I would expect the exam board to use that to exclude people in certain years. But maybe he was dishonest on the disclosure?

Eastpoint · 28/08/2017 03:48

It could be a numbers thing - not many schools sit the Pre-U so there is only going to be a limited number of teachers who have the experience to set the exam? I know that there were concerns over the accuracy of marking for some subjects, one friend's daughter had a history A level go up 22 (!) UMS on a remark. This is a reflection on the pressure the exam markers are under, not their ability. The rate of pay for script marking is very low now. I think the exam boards publishing the text books is part of the problem.

TestTubeTeen · 28/08/2017 05:09

So these papers and e mails were all circulating before the exams. Other staff were recipients, the exams were months ago, it all seems very fishy that it is only now that something is said, and only one person is implicated.

This whole system seems like a cliquey fast track insider route to Oxbridge. Which is exactly what parents of these schools are paying for, I suppose.

Eastpoint · 28/08/2017 07:05

The Eton letter to parents was dated 3 August so it has been known by the families of those involved for a while. Dds's & Ds's schools have exam inviligators from outside the school who do not know the pupils, I wonder what will happen to the examinations officers at the schools.

meditrina · 28/08/2017 09:08

"all seems very fishy that it is only now that something is said, and only one person is implicated."

Something has been said - to those affected. The letter is to the parents of all pupils. It's clear there had been other communications with parents of affected pupils, and we can reasonably assume correspondence between the school, the exam board and other interested parties.

It's not a press release, but rather a letter the press got hold of. So that is alsoma factor in the timing as no-one can predict how quickly the recipient of such a letter will either take it to the press, or just less it slip.

happygardening · 28/08/2017 09:15

I'm not defending Eton but as eastpoint says the problem with the Pre U is that so few schools do it. Those schools that do are often very committed to it's format and genuinely believe its better than A levels and therefore wouldn't want to use another exam board.
As someone says up thread universities set there own exams, and don't get the students practicing exam questions in advance so its perfectly possible to do it.
I'm sure there cheating in all sectors I was once at a dinner where a young French teacher was very upset saying how he'd been given by the head of MFL a whole pile of laminated answers to hold up during the GCSE French oral exam. He resigned from the school over it. He then spoke to other friends who were MFL teachers and found others were in the same situation.
The problem is that schools are under so much pressure to get good results.

dumbledore345 · 28/08/2017 09:24

@happy

Winchester doing the same apparently. Wonder whether this is just the tip of the iceberg.

If teachers at these schools feel they cannot get top results without cheating - despite the fact that they are only dealing with a pre- selected group of highly intelligent boys - you have got to wonder what the added value is that they are offering.

I think this will be the beginning of the end for pre U. This blindingly obvious conflict of interest should have been identified and dealt with by the exam board. With linear A levels making a come back the perceived advantage of pre U is likely to evaporate.

BoffinMum · 28/08/2017 09:33

I am a university lecturer. I work in a leading RG university. For obscure historical reasons we used to have to set one particular group of students a written exam in a situation where you wouldn't normally expect to use one.

We used to tell them the questions in advance. In fact we used the same questions every year. And we ran sessions on how to pass the exam.

Some students still failed!!!!