ENGLISH-LANGUAGE exam papers lost by a courier firm between Andalucía and Cambridge, UK, have turned up intact in Sweden, ending days of agony for the test centre in southern Spain.
Students who took their exams in Granada, Almería and Málaga on October 13 were not, fortunately, aware that their papers had been mislaid in transit – until this week, when the centre contacted them.
Jonathan Baum, manager of Exams Andalucía, said that 'from day one' the centre had been 'thinking about what to do for our candidates' benefit', and said his team 'offered all the alternatives in their hands' to affected students, even though the school itself was not responsible for the loss of the package containing the papers.
The papers were at level B1 (PET, or Preliminary English Test), at just below A-level standard, and B2 (Cambridge First Certificate), or about second-year degree-level standard, in English as a foreign language.
A total of 404 exam papers in a 17-kilo package were on their way to Cambridge English Assessment headquarters when delivery firm Mail Boxes ETC mislaid them.
But they have been found in Sweden, the package completely intact and untampered with, meaning students will not have to repeat their tests.
In fact, they will receive their grades and, if they have passed, their qualification certificates in the same time frame as if they had gone directly to Cambridge.
Baum has thanked candidates for their 'patience' during 'these uncertain times' which have 'fortunately had a happy ending'.
He says in the 45 years Exams Andalucía has been organising Cambridge English Assessment tests, this is the first time any papers have ever gone astray on their way back to the UK.
