Can you solve the maths question that made some students burst into tears?

Students in New Zealand were left flummoxed by a particularly tricky question on their exam paper.

Level 1 students (the equivalent of year 10 in the UK) taking the National Certificate of Education Achievement paper in maths and statistics on Monday, were presented with a question which teachers claim would not have been taught until the end of Level 2 (year 11).

The furore over the difficult exam question has seen the Education Minister, Chris Hopkins, order a full report into the exam.

Kristine Kilkelly, the deputy chief executive of New Zealand's exams authority has stood by the exam, stating that her organisation was...

confident in the quality of the Level 1 Mathematics examination.

In the paper concerning geometric reasoning in problem solving, question three asked about parabolic curves.

According to head of maths at Kāpiti College, Jake Wills, 'that question should be Level 2'.

Wills told News Au that students would need to have known a formula that was not provided on the paper in order to complete the question.

Picture: NZQA 2017 Paper

Another question students were asked to answer, concerning probability, required students have an understanding of the concept of 'relative risk'. This concept is reportedly not taught until Level 2.

However, Wills also commented that some of the harder questions on the paper were doable by 'excellent' students.

HT News Au

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