Devizes School pupil Alex Singh has told of his agonising eight day wait to find out his GCSE grades.

Alex, 16, and his family were in Cumbria when the GCSE results came out on August 23 and he had left a stamped addressed envelope with the school to send his results to his grandmother in Glasgow, Scotland, as he was spending the rest of his holiday at her house.

The results did not arrive on August 23 or the next day so he left a message on the school’s answerphone asking for his results.

By the following Tuesday the results had still not arrived so his mum, Angie Singh, 45, left a message on the school’s answerphone and on the following day but received no reply.

Ms Singh, a psychiatric nurse and mosaic artist, rang Wiltshire Council’s education department, Ofsted, exam boards and the Department for Education to see if they could give Alex’s results but without success.

In desperation Ms Singh’s sister who lives in Trowbridge went to Devizes School on August 29 and spoke to an IT technician who gave her the email address of the school’s exams officer who Alex emailed later that day.

The following day, seven days after the GCSE results came out, Ms Singh rang Devizes MP Claire Perry’s office and a member of staff there read Alex the results which were listed in the Gazette and Herald.

Only A and A* grades had been provided so Alex, of Rowde, was left in limbo for his remaining six subjects.

It took a further day for him to get these when he eventually spoke to a member of staff on the phone at Devizes School.

Alex, who is now in the sixth form at Devizes School studying four A-levels, said: “It was so frustrating and agonising to have to wait so long for my results.

"I was disappointed it took so long, the organisation and communication were just so terrible.”

Ms Singh, who is from Scotland originally, said: “This wouldn’t happen in Scotland. Children get their results by text or email.

"As the week wore on Alex was getting more despondent and I was getting more angry. There should have been a back-up plan.”

Julie Miriam, Devizes School’s deputy headteacher, said Alex’s results were posted by a member of staff in Devizes at 2pm on August 23.

She said: “We are very sympathetic and understand they would have been upset and frustrated at the delay but the school is not at fault.

"The postal service has let us all down. There has never been a problem ever with us posting results to those students who requested it.

“The message on the school’s answerphone says the school is closed. We provide all students with a handbook which includes that if anyone has issues or problems about exams they can email us.

"There is a dedicated exams office email address and this is monitored. This is also on the school’s VLE.”