Looking for a fiendish Saturday morning brain teaser?
You could do a lot worse than attempting this question from a recent maths exam in Scotland – which left pupils understandably perplexed.
At the heart of the question, exam candidates are being asked to work out how long it takes for a crocodile to reach its prey – but there’s a whole lot more to it than it.
The question formed part of a new look Higher maths exam sat by 16 year olds – and was so tough that examiners were forced to slash the pass mark to just 34 percent.
Yep.
And while the Scottish Qualifications Authority has claimed that the exam’s overall difficulty was the main problem, they admitted that the crocodile brain bender ‘proved to be challenging for most candidates.’
No kidding!
This question about a frog proved to be pretty tricky too.
In a statement, an SQA spokesman said: ‘We recognise that the exams period is a stressful time for young people and their parents.
‘We are aware of the concerns many of them have raised on online petitions and we want to reassure them.
As is the case every year, we do not set the pass mark or the number of marks required for each grade until the marking process is complete, later in the summer.’
Still haven’t worked it out? This tutorial will shed some light on the whole thing.
