A-level results missing

Students are worried about their missing A-level results

Staff and pupils at a west Wales school have been told they will get their missing A-level results by Friday afternoon.

For 52 students at the Sir Thomas Picton School, in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Thursday morning turned out to be something of an anti-climax when their full A -level results failed to turn up.

Now they face an anxious wait and are worried about delays in confirming their applications to universities.

There were blank spaces in some of the forms which failed to contain exam grades.

Helen Danzey, examinations officer at the school said the delay was "absolutely devastating" for both pupils and staff.

The students, who had taken exams in chemistry, physics, information technology, physical education and sociology, were missing at least one of their results when teachers at the school opened the envelope this morning.

All the missing grades were for exams set by the Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations board (OCR) which has promised to resolve the situation within 24 hours

Last year, just under 2,000 students across the UK who had taken OCR exams had their A-level results upgraded following the inquiry into the grades fiasco.

Prime Minister Tony Blair had apologised for the distress caused to pupils by at the 2002 Labour Party conference, in Blackpool, and referred to the independent investigation that was being carried out.

Prime Minister expressed sympathy for students caught up in the 2002 exams fiasco

He said: "I'm not just sorry for these students that have been put in this position, I'm sorry that this situation has ever arisen."

Commenting on the missing results at her school, Ms Danzey said: "The students are worried. "We all just feel sick.

"The universities need to know what grades the applicants have got and this is delaying the process.

"Instead of us being elated at the excellent results achieved at the school, we are in a state where we can't celebrate."

She said the mistake was realised at 0730 BST on Thursday when teachers discovered that the results slip had several blank spaces where the grades should have been.

Ms Danzey added that three days was "a heck of a long time" for the worried pupils to wait.

She stated that all the pupils had contacted their intended universities to explain the delay.

A spokesman for the examination board OCR said they were working closely with the school to ensure that all A-level candidates at Sir Thomas Picton "would receive their results by Friday afternoon."

He said an electronic communication problem between the school and the exam board was thought to have been the reason.