Schoolchildren in north Wales are among those affected by an examination board mistake during which nearly 300 exam papers were thrown into the bin.

The scripts from 19 AS-level students at Ysgol Brynhyfryd in Ruthin, were among those thrown away after they were delivered to the wrong address.

Nineteen Ruthin students have been affected

Back in July, it emerged the papers for a sociology exam set by the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations Board (OCR) were supposed to go to the home of a marker, but ended up at a neighbour's house.

All the candidates who were affected by the mistake have received letters, and were told they would be given grades on the basis of an estimate from their tutors.

The lost papers accounted for one of three modules for the sociology exam - 30% of the final mark.

Ysgol Brynhyfryd head teacher Eleri Jones said she was shocked when she heard of the error five weeks ago.

"I was clearly appalled, and concerned for the students, knowing that they would never know how they performed," she said.

Eleri Jones: "Appalled"

"We will have to have a close look at the results when they are published and discuss any issues that arise from that with the students and their tutor."

Following the incident, it appeared that someone at OCR had put the wrong house number on the envelope.

Although the papers had a return address on the package, the householder told the OCR he had called another organisation which he thought was the board and was told to put them in the bin.

At the time, the OCR said the 293 candidates would not be adversely affected as examiners would be using other evidence of their achievements when grading them.

Simon Sharp, head of policy for OCR, said: "We know mistakes can happen when dealing with over a million pieces of paper each summer."

"That's why we have procedures in place to rectify any situation, including clearly marked address labels.

"This was a minor error which was turned into a major one by the well-meaning but unfortunate actions of a member of the public."

OCR's chief executive, Dr Ron McLone, said: "I can assure all candidates that they will not be disadvantaged by this unfortunate incident.

"We will use other evidence of their achievement to arrive at a fair outcome," said Dr McLone.