AN INVESTIGATION has been launched at a Wirral private school after pupils spent two years studying the wrong book for a crucial GCSE exam. The mistake at Birkenhead HMC Independent School only came to light when fifth-formers there opened their English Literature exam papers. Last night, staff at the £7,647 a year school said they have reassured parents the error would be taken into account by markers but lawyers claimed the establishment could still face future legal action. John Clark, headmaster of the school, in Beresford Road, Oxton, yesterday admitted the school sent 24 pupils into an exam room on Wednesday, May 25, having taught them John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. However, this title was removed from the syllabus last January by the examination board. The English department should have picked any one of a further six titles on the approved list to teach the students, but had not done so. Parents last night said they were shocked by what had happened, particularly after paying substantial fees for their children's education. One, who asked not to be named, told the Daily Post: "Our children have had their chances of academic success blighted by their having been taught the wrong book." Lawyer Francis McEntegart, of Brabners Chaffe Street, said: "If it is a fee-paying school parents are paying for a service. While a school obviously cannot guarantee exam success, they are under contract to prepare children with the right books for the right exams. "There are contractual issues and also issues under tort law here where parents could have grounds. Complainants would have six years to bring a claim." Mr Clark, defended the pupils' English teacher, who he refused to name, while trying to reassure parents a mistake like this would never be repeated. The head, who has held the post at the school for the past two years, said: "I am very unhappy that this has happened and I shall make sure this never happens again. "Of the two questions listed on the paper, the students could answer both although one was not on the book they had been taught. The text they had studied had been removed from the exam board list. As soon as the error was realised, I phoned and spoke to all the parents who were very understanding. It is not unusual for this to happen in schools." | 
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