by Jenni Horn

An education expert is urging anxious parents to lodge complaints with Medway Council in the wake of the 11-plus debacle.

Former head teacher Peter Read said grievances over delays and disruption to Saturday's exams should be made "as a matter of urgency".

His comments come after council education bosses apologised to angry parents who claimed their children were disadvantaged in their all-important tests.

More than 2,000 primary school pupils across the Towns took the exam, now known as the Medway Test, to determine if they will go to grammar school next September.

Parents of children sitting their tests at Rainham School for Girls have complained that the exam overran by 90 minutes.

Those whose children sat at Chatham Grammar School for Boys said pupils were left waiting 15 minutes because a vital part of their English paper was missing.

Mr Read, a former president of the Kent branch of the National Association of Head Teachers (pictured left), said: "What parents must do as a matter of urgency if they are concerned is complain to Medway Council.

"Parents can also write to the Local Government Ombudsman. They don't need any professional advice to do this.

"They simply have to write to the council and the ombudsman to say they feel their child has been disadvantaged and describe the circumstances."

One mum, whose son took the test at Chatham Grammar on Saturday, said: "The papers were handed out and the children were told to begin but they did not have the instruction part.

"My son put his hand up and said to the inviligator he didn’t know what he was supposed to write. He was told to open the booklet and read it, but there was nothing for him to read."

But when the mistake was realised staff made an urgent phone call and the page was retrieved from correct copies in another part of the building.

The mum added: "I think it is very unfair for children to have faced this kind of disruption. I’m also angry about the way he was spoken to."

It is thought the children, who were from five primary schools, were kept waiting for several minutes while the missing papers were found, leaving one little girl in tears.

Another mum said: "The inviligators talked to the children to try to put them at ease but I don’t think they did a good job. They asked the children to put their hands up if they wanted to pass the exam."

Sarah Matthews’ twin boys Kieran and Aaron also took their tests at the school.

She said: "There is so much pressure on the children, it seems mad that a mistake like this could be made. It is a joke really. One of my boys actually started writing and other children did too.

"The Medway Test is not a fair test anyway. Children at Kent schools do the test on a normal school day, in their own schools."

A Medway Council spokesman said: "Candidates taking the test at Rainham School for Girls test centre started about 50 minutes later than planned as some parents had difficulty finding the school’s exam hall, and because we wanted to make sure all children who had arrived could take the test, the registration period overran.

"Staff advised parents dropping children off that the test would be starting later and would therefore end later than originally planned. Staff were also on hand to meet parents collecting their children, to explain the situation and let them know the test was going to overrun.

"At Chatham Grammar School for Boys test centre, the start of the exam period was delayed by about 15 minutes as one sheet had not been distributed in the allocated time.

"The test centre staff identified this and distributed the paper before the test began ensuring that pupils had the full amount of time to complete the exam.

"All children taking the test on Saturday had the correct amount of time for each paper and were given all their planned breaks to ensure they were not disadvantaged in any way.

"We would however like to apologise to parents and children for any confusion these delays may have caused."

Around 2,180 pupils, aged 10 and 11, sat the Medway Test this year - vying for 926 grammar school places. They had to sit three exams; English, Maths and verbal reasoning, at one of 10 test centres around Medway.

Was your child affected? Leave your comments below, email medwaymessenger@thekmgroup.co.uk or phone 01634 227803.