This was Question 15 in paper 1: ‘Which of the sentences below uses commas correctly?’ Tick one. We’ll, need a board, counters, and a pair of dice. We’ll need a board, counters and a pair, of dice. We’ll need a board, counters, and, a pair of dice. We’ll need a board, counters and a pair of dice. What’s immediately obvious to any punctuation-aware person is that the main alternative to the last example is missing: We’ll need a board, counters, and a pair of dice. Was this just by chance? No. Further down the same test, we see Question 27: Insert three commas in the correct places in the sentence below. I need to pack a swimming costume some sun cream a hat sunglasses and a towel. Only three? The examiners are clearly looking for this answer: I need to pack a swimming costume, some sun cream, a hat, sunglasses and a towel. Their intention is made clear in the guidance notes. Markers are told: ‘Do not accept the serial comma’ – a comma before and. In my blog at the time, I railed against the surfacing in exams of the ‘ugly face of prescriptivism’ – by which I mean the imposition of unauthentic rules on a language.
