Pupils to re-sit 11-plus exam after paper "leaked"

GL Assessment, who provide the tests, said schools and authorised personnel have a legal duty to abide by strict security protocols

Hundreds of pupils must re-sit 11-plus exams after security for at least one of the exam papers was "compromised".

An investigation started after claims some children had seen an exam paper before taking the test in Plymouth.

Plymouth City Council said "the matter has been referred to the police". A fraud investigation is under way.

The maths and English exams were for places at Devonport High School for Girls and Plymouth High School for Girls for September 2017.

'Re-test all candidates'

A letter sent to parents by Plymouth City Council said: "Following our initial investigations, we have now ascertained that at least one of the papers has been compromised.

"The investigation is continuing and the matter has been referred to the police.

"As a result, we regret to announce that we feel that we have no choice but to declare the earlier examinations null and void; they will therefore not be marked or count towards a candidate's final score.

"To be fair to all candidates, we have decided to re-test all candidates using a completely different set of examination papers."

Children will sit one of the two English papers and the maths paper on 8 October, but it will "not be necessary" to re-sit the second "local English paper" that was taken on 24 September as "there has been no suggestion of prior knowledge of the subject area".

GL Assessment, which provides the tests, said: "Schools and authorised personnel have a legal duty to abide by our strict security protocols and we would like to reiterate that any breach of that duty will be dealt with."