17 replies to this topic

[SwedishPersian]

I know they want pen on most exams 8except multiple choice where they want pencil). But Is it allowed to use pens which have ersable ink on the exams which require pen? This would make writing english exams as well as physics/biology/chemsitry/math a lot easier (all exams really )

Anyone know for certain if you're allowed to use an erasable pen or not?

[Sandwich]

I know I thought about it, and I don't think there are technically any rules about it (I mean for starters, how would they tell?), but the thing you have to remember with erasable pens is that they are easily erased, obvious as that seems. For instance I once had some of my notes on the table next to me whilst I was drying my hair and no word of a lie, I effectively hairdryed a little patch of my notes out of existence. On the basis that photocopying also involves the application of heat, and is a possible thing which might happen I have no idea what they do with papers), I decided to stick with normal pen. Safety first

You could run your pen through a series of tests, possibly, to make sure it's not going to suffer if it gets heated up etc. xP But I think it's just easier to use a normal pen and cross things out. Provided it's legible, they don't care if your paper looks a mess. The reason they ask you to use pen is so none of your work can be altered or rubbed out and so no accusations of fixing can be made -- although they wouldn't be able to tell what sort of a pen you used, the reason they want you to use pens kinda excludes the use of erasable ones for sensible reasons.

[Ruan Chun Xian]

Use a normal pen. They're not going to mark you down for making mistakes and crossing them out. Just a line through the mistake would let them know that you don't want that part to be marked. A legible crossed out line could maybe even help you get sympathy mark (I'm not sure whether it's a myth or not, but so my teacher once said). If for example you cross something out and it happens to be the right thing to write, or some that really shouldn't be crossed out, they may give you mark for being on the right track.

[~vola]

IB test graders are instructed not to grade anything that's crossed out. Theoretically you could fill an entire page of, say, a history essay with expletives, cross them out, and they can't do anything to you grade-wise for it. The worst they could do is maybe frown at your wasting of paper and ink, but IB hardly has room to talk when it comes to killing trees (print 3 copies of your 30-page paper, only one of which will ever be seen by anyone who matters--the other two will be kept on file for prosperity or because the coordinator needs something to line her birdcage with).

[incardiff]

~vola, on May 12, 2010 - 00:23, said:

IB test graders are instructed not to grade anything that's crossed out. Theoretically you could fill an entire page of, say, a history essay with expletives, cross them out, and they can't do anything to you grade-wise for it. The worst they could do is maybe frown at your wasting of paper and ink, but IB hardly has room to talk when it comes to killing trees (print 3 copies of your 30-page paper, only one of which will ever be seen by anyone who matters--the other two will be kept on file for prosperity or because the coordinator needs something to line her birdcage with).

Usually - If the crossed out part of the answer is correct, the examiner marks it anyway or sends it to his supervisor - senior examiner to make a decision or it is marked and sent to helpdesk to decide. The same applies to exam papers written in pencil. The copies of scripts are very useful as sometimes the IB cannot locate the exam paper (delivery issues, demages during the transport, misfiled - please remember there are about 1 million scripts to file away in May session).

[Tilia]

We were told not to use an erasable pen for the finals, apart from sciences P1, of course. But does anyone know the reason for why not?

[Sandwich]

Tilia, on Jul 04, 2010 - 14:29, said:

We were told not to use an erasable pen for the finals, apart from sciences P1, of course. But does anyone know the reason for why not?

Supposedly...

Quote

The reason they ask you to use pen is so none of your work can be altered or rubbed out and so no accusations of fixing can be made.

[kingdomx]

my friend used one in the november exams last year, it turned out to be fine

[Daedalus]

I only did one exam this year and it was mathematics sl. Used an erasable pen the whole way (and STILL crossed a billion things out) but it doesn't seem to have affected my grade (got the 7 :-)

I've played around with this a little bit at home. In order to erase the standard erasable pen in Japan, where I was living, you need to hold a lighter so close to the paper that if you shift it a little bit the paper will burn. I figured this wasn't likely to happen in transit... on the whole though it's probably safer to use normal pens, but for some exams, like English or History, an erasable pen might be a massive advantage. Especially for people like me, who have illegible handwriting to start with.

[KaylaMarie]

I was told that we can't use pencil because the papers are sent all over and therefore could become illegible with smudgy pencil rather than ink. I don't know if that's the whole reason though.
But if erasable pen doesn't smudge like pencil (depends on the pen I suppose) then based on that info it'd be fine.

[Tilia]

KaylaMarie, on Aug 05, 2010 - 06:05, said:

I was told that we can't use pencil because the papers are sent all over and therefore could become illegible with smudgy pencil rather than ink. I don't know if that's the whole reason though.
But if erasable pen doesn't smudge like pencil (depends on the pen I suppose) then based on that info it'd be fine.

At least as long as you don't erase with it. IB is weird, I would not dare to use it when I'm told not to.

[IOwnAndPwnU]

Just try your erasable pen at home. Ensure that it does not erase by smudging or heat, and under other conditions as well. Also, if erasing takes more time than crossing out with pen (most likely), you'll probably want to reconsider the user of an erasable pen since time is extremely valuable during the final exams. If you already write legibly under pressure, the examiners just care if they can read it. If you know you're going to make a big mess, perform some experiments with the erasable pen before actually using it.

[greaterthaninfinity]

You definitely can, as the posters above me have said.

However, do realize that you are short on time on the IB exams. Erasing is a waste of time. I know some IB students are anal retentive about aesthetics and like to have a nice little page of neat square writing, but this really slows you down in an exam situation. Just cross stuff out. You'll save yourself time and sometimes three minutes on a question is indeed the difference between a level 5 and 6. So, please - just cross it out.

[saunders is god]

you can't and the reason is that the ibo does not want the school to erase answers and change them to correct ones so that it will look like their school got really good results

[moah]

Does anyone know what kind of pencil to use on the multiple choice? One teacher said something about that you had to use either a "hard" or "soft" pencil but I dont remember which one it was?

[Red XII]

While you're not going to fail your exam because you used erasable pen, you're better off with a normal pen.

The purpose of the pen is to make it readable for the examiners, and erasable pen tends to smudge.  Thus, you take a risk.

The benefit of an erasable pen is that you can erase.  Erasing is a waste of time.  Cross it out, ignore the ugliness, and move on.  All you need to cross something out is a simple line through it.

@moah: You need a #2 pencil for the multiple choice.

[Jade=)]

What colour of pen can we use in exams? Eg. blue, black, red...

Also, can we use coloured pencils or regular pencil in diagrams? Eg. Economics diagrams

[Chris Kuno]

I believe they mark the exams (the multiple choice parts anyway) - so the sciences (and possibly other courses) with the electronic thing that scans the lead on the pencil. So if this is the case, you will either get a 0 or no mark outright. I just wouldn't even risk it personally.