Typically there are just two calculators between 40 students, which means that much of the exam time is spent working out basic functions, such as square roots, which could legitimately be done in seconds on the calculator.

The problem was discovered by Penny Spring, a teacher at Sibford School near Banbury, who visited Malawi during the summer, and now Sibford pupils are coming to the rescue by collecting solar powered calculators to send to their African peers.

 “Students have to pass the Malawi Certificate in Secondary Education if they want to go on to higher education and if they don’t pass the maths paper they automatically receive a fail,” explained Penny.

“Without calculators most don’t stand a chance and I am delighted that our students and staff have rallied round to help.”

Penny was visiting Africa to take over a cheque for £1,500, money that had been raised by Sibford Students for the Nchima Trust, a small charity that supports health and education projects in Malawi.

Said Alan Wallis, the school’s newly appointed charity co-ordinator: “The Nchima Trust was one of the school’s chosen charities for last year and, following Penny’s visit, has agreed to be responsible for receiving the calculators and ensuring that they get to the students in time for their exams.”

To date more than 100 calculators have been collected which are currently being parcelled up to send across to Malawi.

 Pictured: Year 9 pupil Alice Weil (13) and Alan Wallis with some of the calculators bound for Malawi.