SCORES of school pupils in the region were left hanging on for their exam results on Tuesday after an email glitch caused chaos.
The Nat 5 and Higher results were meant to be sent out at 8 am that day but a technical failure meant thousands across Scotland never received their emails, while others only got blank messages.
It was a tense morning for many locally as they waited to find out what was going on.
Siobhan Copeland from Dumfries said: “My daughter had a blank email, luckily she signed up for text results also. Shambles.”
Colin Irving, also Dumfries, said: “Blank email received first. Second email now received with results included.”
“So much for technology,” said Christopher Lyn Tamlin.
Meanwhile, Anna Reid, of Waterbeck, received her UCAS acceptance email before her results had even turned up. Her mum Fiona, who is this paper’s editor, said: “It was a back-to-front way of finding out but she was delighted to hear she’d got onto her course, even if she didn’t know her grades at that point.”
Not everyone was affected by the issues as the SQA text messages made it through and all the hard copies arrived in the post on the same day too.
That was the case at the Mccabe household with Karon Mccabe saying: “Lexi got hers dead on 8 am.”
Commenting on the issues, an SQA spokesperson said: “Texts were not impacted and the vast majority of learners who signed up to MySQA received their results as expected.
“We apologise for any concern caused to learners who experienced a delay before receiving their MySQA email with their results attached.”
South of Scotland MSP Colin Smyth was concerned about the delays and said: “Young people across Dumfries and Galloway should have woken up on Tuesday morning to exciting news – instead they woke to a new level of SQA chaos.
“It is simply unacceptable that hundreds of young people have been forced to undergo real anxiety due to this SQA technical failure.
“The SQA have apologised but this is an incredibly stressful time for young people.”
Speaking generally about results, Mr Smyth added: “I would like to congratulate everyone who received their exam results this week, as well as all teachers who have worked so hard in very difficult circumstances the past few years.
“I hope those receiving their results feel like their hard work has paid off, but I know some will be disappointed.
“In these cases, it is important to remember that everyone’s journey is different and there is support out there for anyone who needs it.”
