Children sitting the Medway Test had their exam papers taken away early after a mistake by invigilators.

Youngsters taking the test, formerly known as the 11-plus, were told they had five minutes left to complete their maths papereven though there were still 10 minutes to go.

Pupils sitting the exam at Chatham Grammar School for Boys test centre were told to stop and about 80 papers were collected before examiners had their error pointed out to them – by a 10-year-old.

Parents outraged at the slip-up have complained to Medway Council, which has issued an apology but insists pupils were not disadvantaged.

David Lambert’s daughter Olivia was among the children sitting the exam on Saturday.

He said: “Olivia was on question 35 of 50 when the time warning was given and she panicked because she thought she had 10 minutes left, not five. I would hate to think she’s been robbed of a place at a school she wants by Medway Council’s mistake. It’s a schoolboy error.”

Jane Kitney, whose daughter Paige, 11, was sitting the test, said: “One of the students said it wasn’t time to finish, then another complained and that’s when the papers were handed back.

“These kids get so nervous and a lot of them said they rushed the last few questions. Those questions could be the difference between them passing or failing.”

In total 268 pupils sat the exam at the centre. They were from a number of schools, including Horsted Junior in Chatham.

A Medway Council spokesman said: “As this oversight was immediately corrected and all candidates were given the remaining five minutes to finish the paper, we do not feel it would have caused a disadvantage for candidates, but would like to apologise for the confusion this caused.”