Will results be downgraded after IB exam leak?

Students sit for an exam amid fears IB students could for forced to resit exam papers (Photo: PA Gareth Fuller)

Students studying the International Baccalaureate (IB) have been left fearful they will be forced to retake exams or have their qualifications downgraded after question papers were leaked online.

Several versions of papers for the A-level alternative were shared to encrypted messaging platform Telegram in an effort to help students taking the exam in a different time zone or at a later date.

Maths exams and biology tests were both circulated online ahead of a second wave of students taking the exam in timezone two in Europe and Africa. It is unknown how many students actually saw the questions ahead of the exam.

But while IB said the questions shared online were not the official exam and instead mocked-up papers created by students who had memorised exam questions, many are still concerned they could have their results downgraded or be asked to resit.

What is the International Baccalaureate?

The International Baccalaureate (IB), which first started in Switzerland, is taken in more than 150 countries – including the UK. Some 117 schools in the UK offer IB according to the organisation.

The award is run by a non-profit foundation which offers a total of four educational programmes for students aged between three and 19.

The IB’s Diploma Programme is its most popular in the UK and is taken by students in years 12 and 13 as an alternative to A-levels. The programme comprises six subject groups which, like A-levels, is studied over two years. The subject areas include languages and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics and the arts. It generally offers a greater breadth of topics than A-levels as well as an essay to develop critical thinking.

Through the programme students are qualified to work in certain areas or move on to another professional qualification or training course. Those aiming for university can have their awards transferred into UCAS points.

How were the exam papers leaked?

Exam papers allegedly for this year’s IB were shared to groups on the messaging platform Telegram. These included questions for the biology and maths papers.

The papers appear to be uploaded by students who took the paper in IB’s first stipulated timezone (UTC +12 to UTC +3.5) which includes Oceania and Asia. The exams are taken in three separate waves to account for varying time zones around the world. This would then benefit students in the remaining timezones two and three.

IB stressed that the questions on Telegram were not official exam papers and instead mocked up papers created by students who had memorised the exam.

Will students have to resit exams or have qualifications downgraded?

Providing relief to students, IB has confirmed that those who did not engage in sharing questions online will not be asked to resit exams.

The organisation confirmed that it will carefully review “individual exam responses for cases of misconduct” and “otherwise mark papers as usual, to ensure students who acted with integrity are not penalised”.

It comes as IB told i earlier this week that it was aware of “activity claiming a small number of students engaged in cheating by sharing exam content on social media platforms”. The organisation said it was now investigating the claims of “time zone cheating” and which it “explicitly prohibits” and takes “very seriously”.

The organisation said consequences for those caught engaging in cheating would involve “not receiving marks for their examination and or relevant subjects”, and “potentially the non-award of the IB qualification”.

It said it has “actively worked to identify and remove instances of shared examination content online, and hold the students responsible accountable”.

IB did not confirm how it will decide grade boundaries this year as students fear that the organisation could push up the thresholds.

This would amend the minimum marks a student needs to achieve to achieve a certain grade and could possibly change due to more people getting higher marks.

Grade boundaries vary slightly each year according to the varying difficulty of the paper, data about the cohort taking the exam, and in relation to previous statistics.