OCR exam board faces censure after question on Romeo and Juliet implied that Tybalt is a Montague rather than a Capulet

One of England’s biggest exam boards has been forced to apologise after thousands of students sat an English literature GCSE paper with a mistake in it.

The error appeared in an question set by OCR about the character Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet. It implied he is a Montague when he is in fact a Capulet.

Confusing his family background, the question read: “How does Shakespeare present the ways in which Tybalt’s hatred of the Capulets influences the outcome of the play?”

Headteachers described the mistake as a serious error that would have “caused stress and concern to candidates” who sat the paper on Friday.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Students need to be able to perform to the best of their ability and seeing errors in a paper can undermine their confidence. We call on the awarding body to take appropriate action to make sure that candidates are not in any way disadvantaged.”

Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “OCR need to be particularly open to any requests for a re-mark if students feel that their efforts have not been properly graded.”

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, added: “Incompetence on this scale is barely to be believed. It is hard enough for this year’s cohort of pupils to be taking this exam for the first time. To have their experiences made even worse by being required to answer a question which is unanswerable is a disgrace.”

The exam watchdog Ofqual said it was “very disappointed”, adding that it would be “scrutinising how OCR intends to identify and minimise the impact on these students”.

In the play Tybalt, a Capulet, is Juliet’s older cousin. The first time we see him he is picking a fight with Benvolio, a Montague, and Romeo’s cousin.



A spokesperson from the exam board said: “We’re aware of an error in today’s OCR GCSE English literature paper. We apologise and will put things right when the exam is marked and graded so no student need worry about being disadvantaged. We are investigating as a matter of urgency how this got through our assurance processes.”



Students were quick to pick up on the mistake, with many tweeting about it afterwards. One questioned the exam boards commitment to accuracy.

Other students and teachers expressed concern that the paper may have cost those sitting the test marks. One teacher, who asked to be anonymous, said: “It is beyond explanation. And so ironic in a play which includes the line ‘What’s in a name?’ Well, for some students it may well be a grade or two in their lit GCSE grade.”

Rachel Appleby, a languages teacher, said: “Obviously sincere sympathies to those who took the exam, and hats off to anyone able to see beyond it and realise the error. Typos are easy to make, but a mistake of this sort is rather unforgivable ... Exams are stressful enough without this sort of thing: let’s hope the added stress-factor is taken into account too for any remarking taking place.”



Katharine Hutchinson, director of e-learning and continuing professional education at Chesterton community college in Cambridge, tweeted:

Katharine Hutchinson (@kjhutchinson) Our Year 11s have worked so hard studying Romeo and Juliet for their #gcse and have been completely let down by #ocr - please RT for them

OCR said approximately 14,000 students out of about 700,000 took the exam, but is not clear how many tackled the question.

This year the English and maths exams this year will be marked marked from nine to one as opposed to A* to U, with other subjects to phase in the same system by 2019.