A sixth form college has launched an investigation after a group of students sat down to an AS Level exam only to find they had been taught the wrong set text.
The eight pupils at the Sandown Bay Academy in Sandown, Isle of Wight, had been studying Harold Pinter's The Caretaker for a year but when they opened their AS English Language and Literature paper on Friday they found that the play was not included in the questions.
Now the principal of the college, Shaheen Khan-Jones, has launched a probe into the error and the students could face having to re-sit the exam.
A spokesman for the Academies Enterprise Trust, which runs the school, said: "We can confirm that an investigation has been launched into the circumstances which led to eight students at Sandown Bay Academy sitting an AS English Language and Literature examination without knowledge of the text featured in the paper.
"This is deeply regrettable. When the full details are known the Principal will write to the examination board to explain the position in order to safeguard the interests of the students concerned.
"At the resumption of the school term next week, the Principal will also write to the parents of the students to explain the position and the way forward."
The Sandown Bay Academy, which includes a secondary school as well as the sixth form college, was placed in special measures after an Ofsted inspection in January judged it to be "failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education".