MP raises GCSE scandal in parliament after Mansfield pupils fail test due to exam board blunder
A Mansfield MP has highlighted the plight of pupils in the town in parliament after a school found that a number of their students' GCSE papers were incorrectly marked.
Vision West Nottinghamshire College (West College Notts), in Mansfield, challenged the exam board after several of its students failed to achieve the minimum GCSE English target grade in 2025.
The school received an apology after Pearson, the exam board, after investigations revealed was down to “human error”.
Teachers at the school requested a marking review of 41 papers after being shocked by the results, which led to 22 pupils receiving higher grades.
Mansfield MP Steve Yemm raised the matter in parliament after the school contacted him expressing concerns that this could be a wider issue.
The school also referred the matter to examination regulator, Ofqual.
The Labour MP said: “Students from West Notts College worked incredibly hard for their qualifications and they deserve confidence that their results have been assessed fairly."
Diane Booth, vice-principal for curriculum and quality at West Nottinghamshire College, said: “On GCSE results day last summer, many of our teachers were shocked that more students had not achieved their minimum target grade for GCSE English.
“With students’ consent, we requested a marking review of 41 papers, and this resulted in 22 grades improving. Of those, two learners moved from a grade 3 to a grade 5. Given the number of grades that changed, we were concerned that other learners might also have performed better than the grade they were awarded.
“A senior exams officer and I met with Pearson to discuss our concerns. Pearson informed us that this was the result of human error and offered an apology.
“We requested that Pearson checked the marking at our college to see if any more grades could have been affected, given that we had 1,400 GCSE English exam entries last summer.
“Following a review, Pearson subsequently advised that no pattern was identified in the marking of the papers that were reviewed and changed. They went on to say that a large number of examiners marked papers across our college.
“However, we remain concerned that this could potentially be more widespread and shared our concerns with Ofqual and our local MP.
“In the meantime, we are working with Pearson at a high level to help them understand the implications of their decision-making.”
Pearson is continuing to work with the school to address concerns.
A spokesman for Pearson added: “Following the June 2025 GCSE examination series, Pearson Edexcel carried out a review of marking for West Notts College.
“After the college raised concerns about the number of grade changes from the review, we carried out detailed quality assurance checks, which found no wider issues with the marking of students’ exams across its cohort of 1,418 English entries.
“We understand that this may be concerning for students and we would like to reassure them that they can have full confidence in the results they have received. All our exams are marked by trained examiners and go through multiple layers of checking and senior oversight to ensure marking is fair and consistent for every student.
“We are in contact with West Notts College and we will continue to work with them to address the concerns they have raised.”
Ofqual confirmed they had been made aware of the issue.