Almost 1,000 pupils will have to resit an English examination

Some 950 students aged between 15 and 16 sitting the entry level English exam on Wednesday opened their exam packs to find that a vital booklet was missing.

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment has ordered an inquiry to find out what happened.

It has also told schools to reschedule the exam for early next week.

Schools were also informed that any pupils unduly upset by the mistake can apply for special consideration in the marking of the paper.

'Apologise'

CCEA chief executive Gavin Boyd said all the papers had been reprinted and were being sent out to schools.

"One of the reasons I am particularly angry about this, not just as chief executive of CCEA but as a parent, is that I know for a number of young people who were due to sit this examination, there would have been a great deal of upset," he said.

"It is simply not acceptable, I apologise unreservedly for that and we will leave no stone unturned inside this organisation to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Mr Boyd added that there were no breach of confidentiality issues surrounding the paper because pupils taking the exam would not have been able to answer the questions without seeing the missing resource material.

The exam was to be taken by 952 pupils at 73 schools across the province.