CoL students consider formal complaint after LPC exam papers theft

The College of Law's (CoL) Birmingham centre has decided that resits are the only option for the 18 LPC students whose exam papers were lost after being left overnight in an unnamed tutor's car that was stolen on 29 August.

The CoL has come under fire from students as a result. The students affected have reportedly been informed that it is "highly unlikely" that they will receive compensation for the lost exam papers, and are now considering launching a formal complaint against the CoL. Speaking to Lawyer2B, one student said: "The College has adopted a dismissive attitude, believing that it is not their fault - but we think they should accept some responsibility. It is beyond belief that the College thinks it is reasonable to leave exam scripts overnight in a car and, in addition, the College has not accepted any responsibility. A lot of people are working part time while on the course and they will have to take time off to revise, pay for extra train fares and experience the stress of having to do the exams again. The final place for [a formal] complaint would be the independent adjudicator for education - if we have to, we will take this as high as we can."

A spokesman for the CoL said: "The College reported the incident to the Solicitors Regulation Authority as it is obliged to do and the SRA-appointed external examiners have advised that although this is a most unfortunate incident, there is no alternative but for the affected candidates to retake the exams as a first attempt. However, we deeply regret the upset caused to these students as a result of this incident and we are working with the SRA to see if we can possibly find an alternative solution. We don't want any students to be out of pocket due to this incident and will consider any claims for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses on a case-by-case basis."