GCSE Maths question
Answer:
6/n x 5/n-1 =1/3
6×5/(n-1) =n/3
30= n(n-1)/3
90= n(n-1)
90=n²-n
Hence n²-n-90 =0
The equation in Thursday’s Edexcel exam was on the probability of taking two orange sweets from a bag. By the afternoon the topic was trending students anger on twitter and online petitions were set up calling on the board to lower the grade boundaries when marking. Edexcel’s owner Pearson said it aimed to “test the full range” of abilities.
It is understood that Edexcel stands by the difficulty level of the exam paper, and that the sweets question was targeted at students aiming for A and A* grades.
Some pupils complained the sweets question appeared to be out of this world and superior standard than those in past papers they had used to revise.
One student, writing on the Change.org petition website, said: “All past papers were similar in a way and they are the resources… that were used by students all through the country to help them with this paper… a lot of people have done badly and would appreciate a retake of a new test or lower grade boundaries.”
About 500,000 teenagers sat the exam across England, and said they felt all was going well until they began the second paper in the maths non-calculator exam.