Shocked pupils at an Oxford school received lower A-level grades than they deserved after a blunder by an examination board.

Four students at Magdalen College School were marked down in their German A-level. One student dropped two grades, while another was rejected by his first-choice university because of his results.

It was later revealed that the Oxford and Cambridge Examinations and Assessment Council had failed to add in marks for oral exams to students' overall totals. Up to 200 pupils nationwide were affected.

Andrew Halls, Master of the college school, said: "They were upset. One was particularly shocked because he was told he should have got an A and he was told he'd got a B.

"After the shock they contacted me and I was already looking into it. I rang up Cambridge and finally got an admission that they had miscalculated."

The boys have now received their correct grades and the student rejected by his chosen univesity has had his offer re-instated.

Duncan Smith, the school's acting exams secretary, said: "It did only affect a small number of boys but you only get one experience of opening the envelope on the day."

A spokesman for the board said: "We apologise. We know there was a problem with some marks in modern languages in the German modular syllabus. It was a computing error that did not pick up the mark for that particular module."

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