O-Level and A-Level students will once again only be receiving their revision of papers a couple of days before the September resit session because not enough revisers were available in August, this newspaper has learnt.

The MATSEC Board of examinations carries out a service which allows students to have their exam papers re-marked and an examiner’s report issued. But students have told this newspaper that for as long as the service has been provided, the revision of paper tends to arrive just days before the resit exams.

The Malta Independent contacted the MATSEC Director Dario Pirotta, who explained that such delays are caused by a lack of graders in the August period. “It should be noted that in some particular subjects, it is very difficult to find eligible revisers capable and willing to do the work in August,” he said.

Students who spoke to this newspaper outlined the issues with revision of papers arriving so late.

In some cases, the original fail can be changed into a pass mark after the revision of paper. But in such cases, the students would already have paid for the resit and, more often than not, spent the entire summer studying, even through private tuition.

Even if this is not the case, a revision of paper can serve as a method of knowing where you went wrong in the exam. But this is hardly helpful if the information is received a day or two before the actual resit.

Pirotta explained to this newspaper the reason why a revision of paper takes so long to be issued. He explained that revisers (markers who were not involved in the original marking) need to be appointed to review the candidates’ scripts. Once the reviser of a particular subject has been identified, scripts are collected from markers and passed on to revisers who are given less than three weeks to conclude their work. The reviser's review involves a close examination of the answers to see that the marks were awarded fairly. A check is also carried out to ensure that all questions and part questions were marked and that all marks were collated correctly. In the case of a recommended upgrade, a meeting with the original markers may be required to discuss the recommendation. Subsequent to this procedure, a brief report is written to justify the reviser's decision.”

The cost of revision of paper for an A-level is €45 with a re-sit exam costing €28 and a registration fee of €15, bringing the total cost to €88. For Intermediate Level, each exam costs €25 and for a Secondary Education Certificate Examination each exam costs €21 (for each subject).

Pirotta told this newspaper that the revision of papers is a thorough and lengthy process. “When the candidates receive their original exam grades, they are also given the terms regarding the results of the revision of papers. Should the revision of papers exercise result in an upgrade for the candidate, the fee paid in this regard is refunded. If a candidate would have also applied for a resit, and following an upgrade decides not to sit for the examination, the relevant fee is also refunded,” he added.

He confirmed that from his knowledge, MATSEC is the only exam body which gives candidates the opportunity for a resit session within six weeks of the publication of results.

This year, 1,214 requests for revision of papers in 74 out of over 100 examinations were received.

The revision of paper reports are vetted by MATSEC Support Unit staff before being issued.