7:58am Tuesday 22nd July 2008
PUPILS could be in the dark over test results this summer.
Some secondary school students who took the Key Stage Three tests in mathematics, English and science earlier in the year, have finished school for the summer without receiving their exam results.
Scores for the tests were meant to be published on the internet on Friday July 18 and papers returned to the schools, so the results could be double checked.
But some papers had not been delivered by Friday, the same day that many schools broke up for the summer, meaning pupils could face an anxious wait over the holidays.
The delays for the exams, which test 13 to 14-year-old students, follow similar problems with Key Stage Two exams for ten to 11-year-old primary school pupils.
Dr Chris Nicholls, headteacher of Moulsham High School, in Brian Close, Chelmsford, said mathematics and science papers arrived on Friday, but that delays at primary schools could affect students starting at the school in September.
He said: "The results look about right so we're going to release them to students on Monday. But we have had significant problems, having to make 33 phone calls to schools asking for their position.
"We're going ahead but it's unsatisfactory; if a child goes into set two and the results then say they did very well it makes for an unsatisfactory setting."
Great Baddow High School, in Beehive Lane, Chelmsford, finished its summer term on Friday, but test papers for English and science had not been received by the school.
A spokesperson for the school said that while staff were very pleased with the results for mathematics, it was possible that students could have to wait until the autumn term to find out their scores.
An Essex County Council spokesperson said: "The total impact is unclear at this stage, but we do know that at Key Stage Two, 15 schools are missing their English results and six schools are without their maths results.
"There are also discrepancies in the results at some other schools."
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