Students in tears after university posts wrong exam results, fails them

Author: Jazlyn Whales,
Publish Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2026, 4:11pm

A University of Otago student says she was left in tears after she and other classmates were issued incorrect end-of-semester grades.

A student, who the Herald has agreed not to name, said she was left “stressed” after opening her TOUR101 Introduction to Tourism exam results on Friday to see she had failed the course.

“It came up that I’d failed, which the only way I would have failed is if I got a 5% in the exam,” she said.

“I was just super stressed because that’s the paper that stands between me graduating.

“When I found out, I started crying and was freaking out.”

The student said she knew of two other students in the course who had also received incorrect grades.

“They also got failed grades, which were impossible for them.”

She said that after trying to contact the university, she received an email about 4pm confirming the grades were incorrect.

“No apology or anything,” she said.

“For them not to put out the announcement for like four to five hours afterwards, everyone was super stressed out.

“I just would have appreciated at least a ‘sorry’ in the announcement sent out.”

Grades for the TOUR101 paper were mistakenly published on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

The University of Otago confirmed today that incorrect grades had been inadvertently published for the TOUR101 Introduction to Tourism paper on Friday.

A university spokesperson said they were contacted by students shortly after the grades were released.

“The wrong grades for TOUR101 were inadvertently published on Friday, and shortly afterwards we were contacted by two students querying their grade, and we realised there had been an error,” the spokesperson said.

“The grades were immediately withdrawn from publication, and we communicated our approach to TOUR101 students that day.”

The spokesperson confirmed the university had started an investigation into the error.

“A thorough investigation was initiated, and the grades were reissued on Monday afternoon,” the spokesperson said.

“We regret any concerns this may have caused students and are currently reviewing our processes.”

University apologises after wrong exam paper handed out

The incident comes less than a month after a University of Otago law exam was cancelled shortly after it began, after students were mistakenly given the wrong exam paper.

Students sitting the LAWS329 Intellectual Property examination were told part-way through the exam that the paper was an earlier version that did not match the instructions they had been given in class.

A University of Otago acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Emeritus Professor James Maclaurin, said students raised concerns with invigilators about five minutes after the exam began.

He said it was then discovered that the incorrect paper had been distributed.

The decision was made to cancel the examination about 15 minutes after it started.

In an email sent to students at the time, Dean of Law Bridgette Toy-Cronin apologised for the error and acknowledged the disruption it had caused.

“I know the examination period is already demanding. Having an examination cancelled shortly after it commenced would have been distressing and frustrating,” she wrote.