High-flying GCSE students at a Watton school believe they have been marked down in a key subject - and are calling for an immediate investigation.More than 20 pupils at Wayland High School claim they have been awarded CD and lower in health and social care because they had been studying the wrong coursework throughout the year.

High-flying GCSE students at a Watton school believe they have been marked down in a key subject - and are calling for an immediate investigation.

More than 20 pupils at Wayland High School claim they have been awarded CD and lower in health and social care because they had been studying the wrong coursework throughout the year.

School head Michael Rose admitted the school had been unhappy with the sample of coursework, but defended the teacher who taught the subject. The school would be appealing to the exams board.

Lucy Bennett, one of the best students of her year, achieved one A*, four As and two Bs, but was left in shock to find she had been awarded DD in health and social care. The result came as a blow and she believes her prospects of building a career in medicine may have been shattered.

“I want to be a paediatrician, so this result is not going to help very much,” said the 16-year-old from Boughton.

“After discovering I had achieved such a low grade I went to speak to the exams officer at Wayland. I was told that it seemed the coursework we had all produced was not what the exam board wanted. It seems we had been following the wrong coursework specification for the two years of the course.

“This had resulted in many pupils' grade being significantly lower than reflects their ability. Not only has this caused much disappointment but I have found one pupil who has told me that she can no longer do A-levels because of this grade and has had to significantly change her proposed route for September.”

Lucy's colleague, Katrina Hemming, said the result will “follow her throughout her life,” possibly hindering her chances of doing a degree at Cambridge.

“There are at least 20 pupils who are in the same situation,” she said. “I would have liked to have passed all of my GCSEs and the fact that I got a CD in health and social care will follow me through my life and that's what bothers me. If we appeal we can't see how they can change the marks, but I want to try. I believe we got the wrong coursework.”

Last night, Mr Rose admitted the school had been unhappy with the sample of coursework, but defended the teacher who taught the subject, claiming she is an experienced member of staff.