A-levels: WJEC apologises after English exam blunder

Wales' main exam board has apologised after A-level papers were given out missing vital parts of their questions.

The WJEC insisted the blunder in Tuesday's English language and literature paper was "a rare occurrence" and was being taken seriously.

It insisted robust procedures would ensure students were not disadvantaged and would get fair grades.

But a headteachers' association said it was "astounded" by the mistake.

Schools and colleges contacted the exam board after four pages were missing from the exam.

Excerpts from three Shakespeare plays - Much Ado About Nothing, Othello and The Tempest - were either partly or fully missing.

The WJEC called this a "question paper collation error".

A spokesman said: "All examination answers will be considered carefully during the marking and grading process to ensure all students are provided with a fair qualification result."

They said the mistake would be investigated after results day in August.

Action would then be taken "as appropriate".

Mother-of-five Helen Dilworth said her daughter was among pupils who raised the alarm at her Conwy school.

She said: "This was her first exam and part of it was missing. All they could say was 'try and write your essay'. She said she was sat there worrying."

Ms Dilworth said the missing extracts were found after about an hour.

Association of School and College Leaders Cymru director, Eithne Hughes, said the mistake would have "completely spooked" some pupils.

While teething problems were to be expected after two years without exams, she said, headteachers were "astounded" by a lack of quality that left some pupils missing four exam pages.

She said students may have lost faith in a system that "creates such problems for them at an extremely stressful time".

"We note that the WJEC has apologised to the affected learners but this does little to address the emotional upset and distress caused by errors that simply should not have happened," she said.

Concerns were also voiced by parents and pupils on social media about Tuesday's maths A-level exam, following concerns about last month's AS paper.

The WJEC denied setting any maths questions that should not have been set.

"Examinations always include a range of questions, some of which are more challenging than others, so that we can effectively differentiate across the whole grade range and award a fair grade to each student," it said.

It said grade boundaries would reflect the difficulty of papers and that qualifications would be "awarded more generously" in 2022 to reflect the pandemic's impact.