Students sitting the O-level English Language listening exam on Oct 16 took to online discussion board Reddit the same day to express frustration that some schools had replayed parts of the audio tracks.
This could give students in those schools an unfair advantage, they said, as they were being assessed on their comprehension of the audio passages.
In response to media queries, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) said in a statement on Oct 18 that five schools replayed part of the audio tracks in one or two of their classrooms due to environmental noise, such as bells ringing or heavy vehicles moving, or muffled playback from speakers.
This was out of 140 examination centres where the exam was conducted.
SEAB said examination centres are allowed to replay affected tracks to ensure fair assessment for impacted students, and that examination personnel would assess the impact and determine whether a replay is required.
It added: “In the GCE O-level English Language listening examination, the assessment format requires tracks two to six to be played twice. Therefore, in the case of a replay, the affected tracks would be replayed according to the number of times required.”
Online discussion about the exam began on Oct 16 when a now-deleted post on the r/SGExams messaging board alleged that Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (ACSI) had replayed part of the audio track four times.
The post received various replies, with some users identifying themselves as students upset that the replay would give ACSI students an advantage. Some reported that their own schools had also replayed the tracks.
Students also misidentified an American YouTuber, whose username is AliciaintheMountains, as the source of one of the audio tracks, and began bombarding her YouTube account with hateful comments.
One of the audio tracks in the exam mentioned a woman named Alicia Hopwood who was hiking in regions similar to those that the YouTube user had posted videos about.
Students left comments like “hate from Singapore”, and AliciaintheMountains had “caused thousands of Singapore students pain”.
The YouTuber later left a comment clarifying that she was not the woman in the audio track, and that Alicia Hopwood was not her name. She added that she had deleted some of the nasty comments.
Responding to queries on this, SEAB clarified that the YouTuber was not the source of the audio track used in the exam.
It said the exam setter did not use, or take any inspiration from, any sources from the owner of the said video in developing the examination material.
It added: “In this instance, other than the name of the trail and the incidental first name, there is little to no similarity between the said videos and the audio text used in the examination. The text used in the examination is an original work.”
The 2024 GCE O-level English Language listening examination was developed by a panel of assessment specialists from Cambridge International Education and SEAB as well as curriculum specialists from the Ministry of Education in Singapore, the board added.
It said: “Setters for the examination papers may base their material on available information from various sources. Copyright clearance will be sought when sources have been used in their entirety or adapted.”