I have heard from students that it was the identical exam and that one reason the curve was so tough was that some student had taken it as a practice test.
The curve was the same as it was when it was given previously.
Is this known and standard practice to give exams available online? Is the purpose to encourage people to study previous exams or is it another approach towards reversing loses in market share? Might some students show like 1800 on other sittings and 2300 on this one due to knowing the exam?
If it was available online (and it quite possibly was, on Chinese file-sharing services, at least), then it was put online illegally–the CB doesn’t recycle released exams. @sattut
I cannot discuss here where exams may be available online. It seems like a questionable move. They have had problems with recycling exams overseas. They really shouldn’t be giving the same exam twice.
Couldn’t agree more, and I’ve been ranting and raving about test recycling for a decade.