A-level students may get wrong results

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS have demanded reassurances that thousands of A-level students will receive the right exam results after fears of computer error.

The Department for Education and Employment said it was "concerned" over reports that a switch to a new computer system might cause some pupils to be sent the wrong exam results. But officials from the Oxford and Cambridge Examinations and Assessment Council insisted they were on target to deliver the right results by 20 August.

A spokesman for the exam board said: "We did have some problems earlier in the year, and there was a delay in getting all the right papers to the right schools and colleges.

"But this was all sorted out early on, and now all pupils have sat the right exams, and they have been marked. The papers are waiting to be graded."

According to one report yesterday, many students were mistakenly entered on to a new computer system where their names were matched against the wrong subjects.

A spokesman for the Department of Education and Employment said: "Ministers would be very concerned if there were any danger of students not receiving correct results on the due date.

"We will be seeking reassurance from Oxford and Cambridge officials that they will be able to meet the 20 August deadline for students to receive accurate results."

The Oxford and Cambridge Examinations Assessment Council, which is used by leading public schools such as Eton, and Rugby, was at the centre of a scandal last year when examiners were wrongly accused of favouring candidates from independent schools.