A GCSE maths exam at JFS was “ruined” on Thursday morning, after the school admitted to bungling its timings.

Parents and pupils in Year 11 complained, following the early morning exam.

According to reports, students were delayed by 10 minutes in starting the exam, but were then stopped and ushered out of the hall at the original time – meaning they were not given the full allotted time prescribed by the examining body Edexcel.

JFS then wrote to parents apologising for the mishap, saying that the school would be contacting Edexcel to explain the situation and request special consideration for all students.

In the letter, headteacher Mr Miller said: “It became apparent, after the examination had finished and once students had left the Main Hall, that we had made an error with the end time for the examination.

“We wanted to advise you immediately, both what has taken place and what we have done in response.”

He continued: “Edexcel have confirmed that special consideration will ensure that the students are not disadvantaged by this situation.

“We fully recognise that this will have caused distress and concern for both students and parents. We are, of course, extremely sorry that this error occurred and hope the information will provide some reassurance in this unfortunate situation.”

One angry parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “My child is so upset, as I imagine every other child is.

“It’s just not fair. It’s all very well the school criticising this year group, but look what they’ve now done.

“How difficult is it to get the times right?”

The entire Year 11, 300 pupils, were sent home from JFS last month after the school's muck-up day descended into chaos with property damaged and the headteacher abused.

A spokesman for Pearson, which owns Edexcel, said that "in cases such as these, we have systems in place ensuring that students have equal treatment and are not disadvantaged - or indeed advantaged - in any way".