A MUM says her son missed out on his preferred college course after an examination board marked him down two grades.

Will Peacey, a Colchester Academy student, had his English Language GCSE exam paper remarked after he was given a level 3, the equivalent of an E.

Will, 16, who is usually a bright student, and his mum Chelsey Gardner were surprised when his new grade had jumped up to a level 5, the equivalent of a C or B.

AQA, the exam board apologised for the error.

His mum, of Erica Walk in Greenstead, said due to the mistake her son is unable to do the Level 3 BTEC course in Computing he wanted to do at Colchester Institute as it is too late to correct his grade at the college. He will now have to stay on the Level 2 course.

She said: "I'm really happy he's got his new grade but I'm upset they have essentially mucked his learning up.

"He came out of the exam saying it went really well so he was really flat about getting the results."

She received a letter from Colchester Academy asking if the school could send of his exam for remarking.

She said: "I'm concerned for Will as if he wants to now do the Level 3 course he will have to stay on an extra two years.

"I'm worried in general for other children, I'm quite angry about it all but we will make the best of it."

Fiona Pierson, headteacher at Colchester Academy, said a number of students received the wrong grades because of the new grading system.

The revised courses are more challenging than ever, with all the exams set at the end of Year 11. They are marked from grades 1 to 9, with grade 9 being the highest grade achievable.

Ms Pierson said: "Many students across schools in Colchester have had their grades adjusted. We send off results if we feel a mark is well under what we thought they were going to achieve.

"I would suggest a significant number came back marked upwards. It's life-changing potentially for those students.

"The results we got this summer were the best so far and we are the second most improved school in Colchester."

AQA said in subjects like English where answers are often more subjective than subjects like Maths, there’s a greater likelihood that the examiner reviewing the marking will have a different view from the original examiner.

Claire Thomson, AQA’s Director of Operations, said: “We’re sorry that William didn’t get the right grade on results day. While grade changes like this are hard to avoid completely in a subject like English where questions often don't have simple right or wrong answers, we take the issue very seriously and we’re constantly working to ensure it happens as rarely as possible."