A FORMER West Somerset College student has had to take a ‘gap’ year from her studies because of a delay in receiving vital course results.

Emily Mansfield-Bellamy was expecting to receive her grades for a two-year City and Guilds extended diploma in animal management by the middle of August.

The qualification – equivalent to three A levels – would have allowed her to embark on a foundation degree course in animal conservation at Bridgwater College.

But more than six weeks on, 18-year-old Emily, from Dulverton, is still waiting for her results.

“This has been so stressful, absolutely horrendous,” she said.

“My place at Bridgwater was dependent on passing the diploma, which involved 90 pieces of coursework, from reports to essays.

“Without the results I felt I had no option but to take a year out and reapply next year.”

Emily said she contacted her teacher earlier in the summer to see if she had to go into the college to pick up her results.

“I was told that I didn’t need to go in and the certificates would be sent to me.

“But two of my former classmates did go in and were told no results were available for any of the 20 people on the course.

“It appeared that the coursework hadn’t been submitted. And all we’ve been told since is that we should have the certificates any day.”

But the college said this week it was not responsible for the delay.

Paul Gibbs, acting vocational faculty leader, told the Free Press in a statement: “All work was submitted on time by the learners. All work was assessed by the teachers on time. All work was internally verified on time by the teaching staff.

“The moderation sample was made available to the external verifier on time.”

But despite constant and regular contact with the external moderator, the sample was not “called” during term time, he said.

“The external verifier eventually arranged a site visit on July 31 and carried out the sample,” said Mr Gibbs.

“The result was that all samples were satisfactory and the cohort was verbally released for certification and claims were submitted.”

However, Mr Gibbs said the City and Guilds online claim system showed the course as blocked.

“Over the summer holiday, regular phone calls were made to the City and Guilds to establish why the certification could not be claimed.

“It transpired that the external verifier had delayed sending the report to City and Guilds.”

Mr Gibbs said that, once this had been discovered, the block was removed and the claims submitted successfully.

“We are currently awaiting the certificates,” he said.

“Whilst this has caused an unacceptable delay to our learners who worked hard to achieve their grades, it was purely due to the systems in place by the awarding body.

“Where learners had been in contact with us regarding onward course requirements, telephone calls or letters were written explaining the situation to colleges in order to prevent any problems.

“Although this delay has been problematic, we are governed by strict regulations put in place by City and Guilds.

“This ensures a rigorous and robust process that ensures our learners, colleges and employers can guarantee the quality of the qualifications from this well respected national awarding body.”