HIGH-achieving pupils at Bassaleg School have complained to a Welsh exam board after claiming their science exam was too difficult and tight on time.

The Newport teenagers last week sat their AS level biology and chemistry exams – the first year the new specification exam had been run by board WJEC.

But students left the exam room frustrated and worried for their future after being met with a paper they felt unprepared for.

Megan Jeffery, who got all A* grades at GCSE and hopes to study medicine, has written to the board to complain.

The complaints included claims the paper was unlike the specimen paper provided by the exam board for practice and the questions were too wordy.

Students also claimed the exam paper required more applied knowledge which took up more time. They said although the new exam paper was worth more marks compared to the previous exam board’s paper, the amount of time given was the same.

But the exam board said the papers were developed with subject experts and were a fair test.

Megan Jeffery, 17, said: “There was a specimen paper but that was nothing like it. It was completely different.

“I had all A-stars at GCSE and I genuinely think I am going to end up with a U grade. It’s so frustrating.”

In a letter to the WJEC, she wrote: “Being a new spec, we were expecting change, but not change to the extent that the whole paper required ridiculous amount of reading and application, with very few of the questions allowing us to prove we know our biological knowledge.”

There were also complaints about the chemistry exam paper, also run by WJEC, which was also taken last week.

Lewis Waters, 16, took both the biology and chemistry exams at Bassaleg school.

He said: “I was taken aback by it. We knew it was going to be hard but I felt frustrated because I spent a year getting 90 per cent in my marks and then being presented with this on the day.

“I think there was so much reading to do for the questions before you get to the science knowledge and I don’t think the time slot was enough.”

A 17-year-old, also at Bassaleg, who did not want to be named, said: “They were quite hard. It was more the time aspect which was quite hard. They were very wordy and the questions were very applied.

“There wasn’t a lot of straightforward questions. I feel like the work I had done, it wasn’t tested properly.”

A spokesman for WJEC said: "All examination papers are developed in consultation with subject experts to ensure that they fairly assess the full range of skills required at the specified level, in this case AS.

"We would like to assure teachers and students that our specifications are in line with the criteria set by the regulator, which includes an emphasis on application of knowledge."