THE MP for the South Lakes has urged Number 10 to set an ironclad deadline by which BTecs students can expect to receive their results.

Teenagers and young people looking to gain the qualification do not yet know when they can expect their results, after an eleventh-hour decision to hold back grades and certificates for this year's cohort.

The certificates were pulled on the eve of yesterday's results day, in the latest round of exam chaos besetting the Government - after controversy over its assessment algorithm for A Level results forced it into an embarrassing climbdown earlier this week.

Exam board Pearson said it would be re-grading all BTecs to bring them in line with A-levels and GCSEs, which are now being graded via school-based assessments following the Government's U-turn.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron said this left half a million students 'in limbo' and made it 'clear...where their [the Government's] priorities lie' over vocational qualifications.

Commenting on the news that schools and colleges were told not to issue BTEC results to students, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale said yesterday: “The decision to pull BTEC grades last night is an insult to the half a million students who have now been left in limbo thanks once again to the incompetence of this Conservative Government.

“Clearly these young people are just an afterthought for the Government who view vocational courses as second class to A-Levels. It's pretty clear from this where their priorities lie.

“The Government must set a clear and quick deadline for when the BTEC results will be released so that no student gets left behind.”

Head teachers echoed Mr Farron's comments, saying it was incomprehensible that such changes had been made so late in the day.

Jon Hayes, Head Teacher at Queen Katherine School in Kendal, told The Gazette yesterday that changes with BTec results had been made 'even as late as 4:30pm' on Wednesday, affecting some 200 certificates at the academy school.

"It was already going to be more difficult than usual this year," Mr Hayes said.

"And the lack of clarity from the Government hasn't helped things.

"But it was great to see the way staff rallied together during the weeks leading up to this morning.

"The focus now has to be on reopening in two weeks' time, trying to help return students, staff and families to some kind of 'normality' as best we can."