Wrong exam printed for Auckland University Business School students

Students from the university's business school turned up for Monday's Infosys 110 exam only to be turned away. Photo / Supplied

About 1000 Auckland University students were sent home from an exam about quality assurance after it emerged the wrong exam paper had been printed out.

The students, from the university's business school, turned up for Monday's Infosys 110 exam at 9am only to be turned away, being told by officials that it had been postponed.

It later emerged the wrong exam paper had been printed, in what was described by one student as "an absolute balls up".

That's not a mistake, that's just plain neglect.

Business student

Many were quick to point out the irony of the situation - as the exam was on quality assurance.

A meme was posted to Facebook, stating: "Teaches students about the importance of quality assurance systems and processes ... hands out wrong exam."

One commenter said: "And yet, the entire weekend, I studied bulls*** about how to achieve operational excellence and not f*** up."

Another said: "So basically someone printed a few hundred copies of something, went to the effort of stapling it all together and handing it out. All without checking any of the questions or even just if the number on the front said 2016. That's not a mistake, that's just plain neglect."

Explaining the situation, one student said: "Everyone got to the exam, and 3 mins before we were about to go in we got told it got postponed to another day, and later everyone found out it was because they printed the summer school exam 2016."

Some were worried the postponement would clash with their other exams, or interrupt their revision schedule. Others said they knew of people with flights booked to fly home following the exam, and many were angry they may have to miss or change their flights.

The exam was re-scheduled for 6pm on Tuesday.

One student who was sent home on Monday told the Herald students "weren't very happy about the exam". But he said it was sorted out well by the university.

"They did manage to hold the exam the next day, and those who had flights were allowed concessions. All in all I think the university handled it pretty well in the end."

There is no computer hacking involved - there has been no security breach electronic or otherwise.

University spokeswoman

A University spokeswoman said it had rescheduled the exam because the wrong paper was distributed to the exam rooms

"To ensure the paper is assessed fairly, the exam will now take place the following day.

"All students have been notified. There is no computer hacking involved - there has been no security breach electronic or otherwise.

"We regret the inconvenience this error caused for our students. The academic integrity of our examination processes is very important."