Do You Reckon You Can Solve this 'Impossible' NZ Exam?

Students were left feeling 'deflated' after the exam.

One New Zealand maths exam for Year 11 students has been criticised after students and teachers complained it was extremely difficult to complete.

The paper contained three questions (with a number of sub-questions) that required students to use geometric reasoning to determine the angles and lengths of sides of certain shapes. 

Students complained they weren't even taught the questions that featured in the exam, and their teachers explained that even they had trouble working out the questions.

One teacher, Amanda Fraser of Logan Park high school in Dunedin, told The Guardian that these questions weren't helping increase the confidence of her students.

"We are trying to enable these kids to do well and you set an exam like this and they come out deflated," Fraser said. "It is not giving them much hope for next year, or for maths in general."

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), who sets the exams for high school students, told The Guardian that the questions were set at the level that is required of national curriculum.

"The level 1 mathematics examination was set by a team of experienced mathematics teachers, for the right curriculum level," NZQA Deputy Chief Executive Kristine Kilkelly said. "[It] is consistent with the specifications for the standard."

So, math whizzes, see if you can crack the exam questions below. 

NZ Qualifications Authority Lvl 1 Math/Stats Exam 2017 by The Guardian on Scribd

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