1980s Chairing an Examination Board

The university offers a shortened Bachelor’s course to a cohort of students who arrive for two years from an African country. The country is not one of the more corrupt and the students appear to be selected as those who will return and catalyse improvements in the nation’s educational system. I’m not sure that our course tutors have been selected on any such optimistic basis. Whatever, this year it’s my turn to chair the Examination Board which will confirm degree classes. I have never met any of the students who await their fate. 

All students are assessed exclusively on written course-work; there are no final examinations. As anyone who has been in the trade will know, averaged marks cluster heavily in the middle. The results I am looking at are no exception. Unless I am missing something, twenty three students will get Lower Seconds and one a Third. I could say something to the effect that tutors on the course should be advised to make use of the full range of percentage marks available to them but it will be water off a duck’s back. I look again at the figures; they are averaged to two decimal points. I see a ray of hope for one student.

An administrator sits beside me, there to advise in case of doubt. This one is a very nervous person and has to be approached cautiously. I use the technique of looking over the top of my glasses, like a friendly GP, to ask Is it in the Regulations that we average to two decimal places? Panic stations, riffling through paperwork, a terrified response I don’t think so.

I look at the members of the Board and the External Examiner. Can we just go through, and reduce to one decimal point? At the head of the list the only candidate with some kind of 59 goes up from 59.46 to 59.5 without mathematical disagreement but like everyone else Ms X does not break through the threshold of 60 to qualify for an Upper Second.

I turn to the course leader and ask whether he can tell us anything about Ms X. She’s the best student we’ve ever had on the course comes the reply. I turn to the External Examiner who opines, I was given one of her essays in the sample of  work, and it was clearly better than many of the others. I remain calm.

I turn my gaze back to the administrator, Is there anything to stop us rounding percentages to eliminate decimal points? The administrator is alarmed because, alarmingly, there is nothing in the paperwork to prohibit this. Let’s start from the bottom of the list this time. We do so. The Third class degree is in no danger of turning into a Lower Second; none of the Lower Seconds risk promotion until we get to the top and are looking at 59.5. 

My last call to the Administrator can be imagined; I then put it to the board, Would the Board be happy if we rounded 59.5 up rather than down? There is no dissent and even the Administrator is on board now. Well, then, with your agreement that’s what I shall do. Is there any other business?