An investigation is under way into why unmarked standard grade exam papers were wrongly posted to an address in Edinburgh.

Three bundles containing 80 complete graphic communication papers, delivered by registered mail, were addressed to a marker who had moved house without telling Scotland's exams body.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) described it as an isolated incident and has begun it own investigation.

Exam papers addressed to a PJ Dean were sent to the Edinburgh home of Stuart Braithwaite on Saturday.

Eighty complete papers were sent to the address

According to Mr Braithwaite the papers were left lying for five days and the exams body did not know they were missing.

He said: "I'm not impressed. I think that given their bad job they've done if it recently they'd take more care.

"We didn't have to phone the SQA. They didn't even realise they were missing.

"I could have chucked them in the bin - I think it's a farce."

'Screw-up'

His wife, Grainne, said she tried to phone the SQA for five days and when she did get through officials took some time to act.

"I don't understand how they could screw-up and deliver these exams to the wrong people," she said.

"We know nobody by that name has lived here for at least five years.

"There were hundreds of exams in there and they are pretty important documents and you'd have thought they'd care."

An SQA spokesman said according to its records it was alerted to the mail mistake at 1030 BST on Wednesday.

'Isolated incident'

"We have no record of an earlier phone call. But as soon as we received the call yesterday we arranged to pick the papers up at a time that was suitable for them," he said.

"This is very unfortunate and we have launched our own investigation.

"There are currently 1.5 million scripts being sent around the country so this is very much an isolated incident."

The number of markers required rose in 2001 as the SQA strove to avoid a repeat of the crisis which surrounded the previous year's exams, when thousands of pupils received incomplete or inaccurate results.

More than 750,000 course entries have been processed from more than 500 examination centres throughout Scotland.