EDUCATION chiefs had to replace an 11+ paper in Buckinghamshire schools because of an “error” – which they have refused to disclose.

Buckinghamshire County Council said the “error” happened at a school outside of the county and replaced the test, the first of two, as a precaution.

Yet it refused to say what the error was and when the papers were replaced.

One parent told the Bucks Free Press that a school in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead had let children take their completed test home.

If true, the paper could have been passed between parents.

The council, however, refused to say whether this was true and also when the error occurred and when the paper was replaced.

It would only release a statement which said: “Buckinghamshire County Council was made aware of an error in the 11-plus selection testing procedure at a school outside Buckinghamshire.

“We have been assured by the school that this was promptly rectified.

“However, the county council has recognised parental anxiety on this issue and decided to take a cautious approach.

“Therefore, following legal advice and to reassure parents, the county council has substituted the question paper of the first test with an equivalent test for those children yet to begin the 11+ selection process.”

And the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead would only say: “The Royal Borough fully supports Buckinghamshire’s actions.”

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In an email to a parent, Vanessa Coombes, BCC team leader for the 11+ said the authority “had to accept that there was no perfect solution” and “its aim was to seek a proportionate, reasonable, practical and sensitive reaction to this unexpected event”.

She said: “The council determined a geographical area within which it sought to establish whether the original first test had been sat and if not, when it would be taken. “This information was then used to decide which schools should be issued with the new test.”

The angry parent said: “It is not fair. We are already at a disadvantage as we are not in the catchment area.”

Annette Pryce, county secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “If it is true, it is the most atrocious lapse in judgement I've ever witnessed when it comes to the administering of tests, especially considering the high stakes nature of these tests.

“It's bad enough that certain students are advantaged already, by socioeconomic status, before they even sit the paper.”