'Doesn't seem real': Brisbane student's panic after email reveals she had been studying for wrong exam

Exclusive: A Brisbane mum said her daughter had just one day to learn an entire curriculum after the year 12 ancient history bungle put extra stress on students during their QCE exams.

Nine schools in Queensland alerted 140 students last Monday afternoon that they had been mistakenly studying Roman emperor Augustus Caesar instead of Julius Caesar just 48 hours before the final exam.

One mum, who wanted to remain anonymous, told nine.com.au her daughter received an email on the Monday afternoon to say she'd been "studying for the wrong exam".

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Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au

The panicked student had a cramming session with a mock exam paper on Tuesday before sitting the exam the following morning.

"Obviously it was a shock and it was like... it doesn't seem real," she said.

"She's not upset with the teacher because obviously the teacher was upset.

"But it spoils the overall mood for every exam that they're going to sit... there's so much at stake."

She said her daughter and her classmates rushed to school the morning after the announcement to speak to teachers and learn their new subject.

"There were classrooms of kids in the same boat," she added.

"I imagine it was more stressful for the scholarship children who live further away."

The year 12 student "took it in her stride" and was somewhat confident after completing the exam.

Some might not have been so calm, the mum added.

"A child could have gone into there and had a complete meltdown and filled in half the questions," she said.

"They want to do well in the subject. They're going to a school where they want to do well."

She hoped the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) – which is responsible for the curriculum and external testing – would stick to their word and take into consideration the hardship these students endured.

"I just hope that the education board and the school make this right," she said.

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"I would like to see that reflected in the marking as well, and that they really consider that this is a rather unusual situation."

In a statement, the exam authority said it was committed to ensuring this did not happen again and assured students that "special consideration" would be applied.

"The QCAA regrets the impact this situation has had on students and will ensure every student receives a fair and accurate result," QCAA acting chief executive Claude Jones said.

"The schools involved are submitting an illness and misadventure application so that special consideration can be applied when results are finalised.

"Our assessment experts will apply additional quality assurance checks to support this process. Students had already completed 75 per cent of their assessment for ancient history."

Her daughter finished her final exam today.

Now, it's a waiting game for the marks in December.

"I'll have more to say when the results come through," she added.

Brisbane State High School first raised the alarm and eight more schools were revealed to be caught up in the error.

These include Flagstone Community College, Meridan State College, Redcliffe State High School, Yeronga State High School, St Teresa's Catholic College, West Moreton Anglican College, James Nash State High School and Kuranda District State College.

Queensland's Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek vowed that a full investigation would occur into the massive failure.

"I want to reassure those students and their parents and the teachers affected that we'll be making every investigation into how this happened. Of course, I'm very unhappy," he said.

"That would have been absolutely devastating for the amount of effort they put in [during] grade 12.

"I feel it's a terrible mistake for the school to make."

Langbroek said there could be some adjustments made in the final grading due to this bungle.

In previous years students were educated on Augustus, but the curriculum changed this year.

The QCAA said schools were told of the change more than a year in advance through "memos, syllabus resources, e-newsletters and at webinars and face-to-face workshops for heads of department and subject teachers".

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