PUPILS HIT BY EXAM RESULT CHAOS

Critical emails are blank when opened | Schoolkids believe they failed all courses

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

SCOTLAND'S under-fire exams authority caused chaos on results day by sending out thousands of blank emails to pupils.

Up to 7000 pupils saw nothing yesterday morning other than a message saying: "Your results are" on top of a blank page.

Some distraught youngsters thought they had failed everything before receiving their actual results just under two hours later.

To compound the blunder, several pupils awaiting results to gain entry to university found out that they had failed when they received an email from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) telling them they hadn't got in.

Scottish Labour's education spokeswoman, Pam DuncanGlancy, said: "Young people across Scotland should have woken up this morning to exciting news. Instead they have woken up to a new level of SQA chaos.

"It is unacceptable that thousands of young people have been forced to undergo real anxiety due to this SQA technical failure."

Furious parents took to X/Twitter and criticised the SQA for causing more anxiety to pupils at what is already a hugely stressful time.

One mum, whose son received his results and whose daughter didn't, called the situation "a farce".

Sally Armitage told how Zoe, 17, was "frantic" when the email came through.