Vegetarian GCSE student, 16, disqualified because she criticised halal meat in Religious Studies exam
A VEGETARIAN GCSE student was disqualified over criticising halal meat in a Religious Studies exam.
Abigail Ward, 16, was told she had made "obscene racial comments" after the practicing vegetarian said she found the idea of halal meat "absolutely disgusting".
The 16-year-old pupil at Gildredge House school in Eastbourne, East Sussex, made the observations during an exam in June.
She was informed by exam board OCR that she would be disqualified "due to obscene racial comments being made throughout an exam paper" and, as such, had committed a "malpractice offence", the reported.
However, the disqualification was overturned when the board was informed the student's distaste for halal butchers came from the fact she is a strict vegetarian.
Gildredge School appealed the decision on the grounds that their student had not made an Islamophobic or racist comment about Muslims, but was merely expressing her distaste for halal butchers.
The exam board upheld the appeal and apologised for the “upset and stress” they caused and accepted their original interpretation had been "inaccurate".
Abigail's mother Layla Ward, a 36-year-old nurse, said the misunderstanding was probably down to an “over-zealous, over-righteous” examiner.
She told the paper: “Abbey is an animal lover and a very strict vegetarian.
"It made me angry … when asked a question in the exam, you can't even express your feelings.
"It's great that it has been overturned, but it should never have happened.
“Philosophy is all about debating and getting your opinion out. I can’t believe how pathetic it is."
OCR said in a statement: "OCR takes all incidence of suspected offensive material against a religious group in exams very seriously and must apply rules which are set out for all exam boards in such cases.
"We accept that initially we did not reach the right conclusion and were too harsh."
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