Regulator: Exam errors 'unacceptable'

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LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- The head of Britain's exam regulator said recent errors in A-level and General Certificate of Secondary Education exams are "disappointing and unacceptable."

Glenys Stacey, chief executive of exam regulator Ofqual, said the recent errors on three exams, which colleges look at when considering applicants, made some questions impossible to answer due to missing or erroneous information, Sky News reported Thursday.

"The recent run of exam errors are disappointing and unacceptable," Stacey said. "In some cases these errors have made it impossible for the students taking these examinations to generate the correct answer for the question concerned.

"We expect, as I am sure you do, that all question papers issued to students should be free from error," he said. "I am aware that where such errors do appear in question papers, awarding organizations are able to implement steps to limit the impact on the students' marks and grades. However, incidents of question errors can clearly disrupt students when taking an examination and cause anxiety as to how this will impact on their final results."

The companies that created the offending exams, AQA, OCR and Edexcel, have apologized for the errors and said they would be taken into account during the grading process.