Pen or pencil?

[soldier_on16]

http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/exams/examcovers/Nov_2011_covers/2011chem2-cov.pdf

:/

[zool3]

pencil

[Zebra]

pencil. I did all my science exams in pencil. Had no problemo!

[Panicmode]

I'd go for pen. It's scanned and pencil doesn't scan very well.

[zool3]

they can't give you a 0 because you wrote in pencil, otherwise majority of victoria would have gotten probably 20/75 (scores only from multiple choice)!

[Panicmode]

they can't give you a 0 because you wrote in pencil, otherwise majority of victoria would have gotten probably 20/75 (scores only from multiple choice)!

No they won't give you a 0 for writing in pencil. However, the instructions clearly say pen and if a particular term is difficult to read because the pencil smudged in scanning they're more likely to not give you the mark then to give you the mark. Also, scanned pencil can be quite difficult to read. The assessors are only human and if they have to try really hard to read your writing, they're more inclined to er on the side of less marks as it can get frustrating.

[Phy124]

VCAA does advise to write in pen due to the scanning of the papers.

Although, if the writing is illegible because the pencil is not visible due to scanning, in most instances they will view the original copy to verify what is actually on the paper.

It depends if the assessor is willing to go to these lengths. For this reason, the risk is low of losing marks, but is a risk nonetheless.

[Natters]

crayon, duh

[zool3]

hmmm... i guess pen would be best then, but if you really want to write in pencil just write the final answer in pen, and all theory in pen?

[Zebra]

I think the pen instruction is to ensure they can see the students answers. As long as the answers are written in pencil firmly and clearly, I don't see this causing any problem at all. In fact, I had no problem.

[soldier_on16]

Probably go with a darker pencil, B or 2B; I'm sure that will be fine.