Transitional Arrangements
New Marking Scheme
www.iii.ie
New Marking Scheme
The Insurance Institute of Ireland introduction of
new marking scheme from May 2011 exam session
From the May 2011 examinations, the Insurance Institute of Ireland is introducing a new
marking scheme in its Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) examinations in order to ensure
compliance with the requirements of University College Dublin and the Institute of Bankers’
School of Professional Finance.
Basically this means that in its MCQ exams, each correct answer will be awarded 3 marks (+3),
each incorrect answer will be awarded a minus 1 mark (-1) and each blank answer (answer
sheets will allow students to mark ‘don’t know’ as their answer) will be awarded a zero mark (0).
The Institute appreciates that negative marking creates certain fears and preconceptions in
students which can cause worry and be distracting at a time when the student should be
focussing on their studies. Below, in an attempt to dispel these fears, the logic of the
introduction of this system of scoring is outlined, its application is explained and some advice to
bear in mind when taking negatively marked MCQ exams is given.
The objective of the introduction of the new marking scheme is to remove a bias that favours
guessing and, thereby, to make the test a more accurate measurement of the students’ actual
knowledge. In a multiple choice test, it is possible to get a totally correct answer purely by luck –
an outcome which is virtually impossible in a written or oral test. But in an MCQ exam, a lucky
guess is indistinguishable from a carefully reasoned correct choice based on knowledge.
Suppose that each question has four options, of which one is right and three are wrong.
A student guessing randomly will have a one-in-four chance of getting the correct answer. Thus
a student could get about 25% just by guessing. A simple adjustment (to negate the gains of this
guessing) would be to subtract 25% from everyone, and base the mark on what a student can
manage beyond chance alone. However, such a marking scheme would not give full credit to
students who get all their answers without guessing.
A better scheme is to give positive marks to correct answers, and negative marks to incorrect
answers. Since a random guesses is three times more likely to be wrong than right, the reward
© Insurance Institute of Ireland 2010
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New Marking Scheme
for a correct answer (3) is made three times as large as the penalty for a wrong answer (-1).
Then, in the long run, the score due to random guessing is just zero, which is what it should be
for a fair test. A student who is guessing randomly can expect the same score as a student who
doesn’t answer at all.
Questions which are not attempted, don't figure into this scheme, since this indicates no
guessing. Such answers are not counted as wrong; they are just scored as zero. From the May
2011 exams, the III MCQ answer forms will contain a fifth option - Option E - in addition to the
existing Options (A – D) to facilitate the student who choose not to attempt a question. Students
who decide they do not know the answer to the question and do not want to risk guessing and
losing a mark can select Option E to indicate that they wish to not answer that particular
question.
In keeping with this logic, the Institute is to award each correct answer 3 marks (+3), each
incorrect answer will be awarded a minus 1 mark (-1) and each unanswered question (indicated
by selecting Option E) will be awarded a zero mark (0).
There are common misconceptions about negative marking. As mentioned above, they are
associated with fear and suspicion. Some students have a gut feeling that the marking is
‘unfair’. Others feel so intimidated by the prospect of negative marking that they refrain from
answering any questions because they think that one is penalised for guessing. But this is an
overly conservative strategy and in actual fact, negative marking is more fair than merely
counting correct answers and ignoring incorrect ones. Note that a student even guessing blindly
is not really penalised - the scoring method just ensures that such a student does not get an
advantage.
It is probably a rare question in which the student cannot quite confidently narrow down the
choices to two or three. In such a case, there is an advantage in giving your best answer, for
you will gain more marks if you guess right than you lose if you guess wrong. However, if you
absolutely have no clue about any of the choices, it is safer to leave the question blank.
Students sometimes feel cheated about the marks they lost because of an incorrect guess. In
such cases they should reflect first on how many marks they gained because of lucky guesses.
Can they honestly say that they were 100% confident about all their right answers, and yet got
every single guess wrong?
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New Marking Scheme
So, how should you tackle a negatively marked MCQ examination
paper? In summary:

If you haven’t got a clue, mark the ‘Don’t Know’ option.

If you haven’t got a clue, but one of the answers ‘looks right, it probably isn’t.

Best of all, know the material, and spend time thinking carefully about the question, so
that you don’t have to guess at all.
© Insurance Institute of Ireland 2010
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