NATURAL SCIENCES TRIPOS
SENIOR EXAMINER’S REPORT
SUBJECT:
1B Chemistry A
Senior Examiner:
Examiners:
Structure of the examination:
Written papers: 2 (2x40%)
Practical components:
1 (20%)
Number of candidates: 123 (129 – 6 withdrawals)
Number sitting the exam/s outside the main exam hal /s: 17
Conduct of the Examination:
•
No incidents reported.
•
There was no choice of questions.
Marking/Scaling:
Data for Report
class
number
%
1st
38
30.89% average
61.59
2.1
40
32.52% SD
15.34
2.2
21
17.07% Withdrawn
6
3rd
17
13.82%
Fail
7
5.69%
Total
123
100.00%
The raw marks gave 33.87% 1sts and 63.90% 1+ 2i. They were scaled to give the percentages above,
bringing them in line with the cohort percentages F (30.4%) and C (61.60%).
Candidates found paper 1 (ave mark %) more difficult than paper 2 (ave mark %), but the overall spread of
marks was reasonable, as reflected by the modest amount of scaling required.
Subject Examiners’ Meeting:
•
All three examiners attended.
•
Overall we were happy with candidates’ performance and the spread of marks obtained.
•
However we noted with concern that 7 students have failed this subject. We could not reasonably scale
the marks to reduce this number (as there is a clear 3 percent gap between the lowest 3rd class mark and
the highest fail).
Conclusions and Recommendations:
•
None.
Date: 22 June 2022
(Additional information may be required by Faculty Boards (e.g. question level data); this is not needed by the
Chairman of Examiners but can be included if it is easier to provide one report. Faculty Boards may publish certain
information and may therefore require content to be presented in a particular format.)
NATURAL SCIENCES TRIPOS
SENIOR EXAMINER’S REPORT
SUBJECT:
IB Natural Sciences Chemistry B
Senior Examiner:
Examiners:
Structure of the examination:
Written paper/s:
Two written papers each with five compulsory questions.
Each paper contributes 40% to the final total.
Practical components: Assessed practical work contributing 20% to the final total
Number of candidates: 167 (excluding 7 withdrawn candidates).
Number sitting the exam/s outside the main exam hal /s: 18
Conduct of the Examination:
•
any incidents that occurred during the examinations and summary of how they were dealt with
No issues were reported
•
was the timetabling of the examinations appropriate: Al good.
•
where candidates have a choice of question, please give the number of candidates answering each
question. n/a
Marking/Scaling:
class
number
%
1st
58
34.73%
average
64.59
2.1
50
29.94%
SD
10.48
2.2
42
25.15%
Withdrawn
7
3rd
14
8.38%
Fail
3
1.80%
Total
167
100.00%
•
The raw marks before scaling produced 34.73% firsts – within 2% of the cohort figure, as required. The
proportion of 1st + 2:1 needed to be scaled down from 70.66% to 64.67% to meet the cohort target.
•
The performance seemed to be pretty consistent between the two papers.
Subject Examiners’ Meeting:
•
All examiners were present except for
•
The boundaries / borders were inspected and the examiners were happy with the distribution of
candidates. No changes were made to any candidates.
Administration: No issues.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
•
No further recommendations.
Date: June 23, 2022
(Additional information may be required by Faculty Boards (e.g. question level data); this is not needed by the
Chairman of Examiners but can be included if it is easier to provide one report. Faculty Boards may publish certain
information and may therefore require content to be presented in a particular format.)
Document Outline
