Updated 1.15pm, adds MATSEC's reaction

A 15-year-old boy, who has been attending physics private lessons twice weekly throughout summer in preparation for his O level resit on Friday, is not being allowed to sit for the exam because his online application inadvertently never went through.

The situation was flagged in a Facebook post by the boy’s mother, Laura Agius, who explained that her son spent the summer preparing for his physics resit. He had failed the May SEC exam. SEC stands for Secondary Education Certificate examinations, commonly referred to as 'O' levels.

The teenager only found out that the exam date had been set when his friends, who attended the same private lessons, informed him over the weekend.

On Monday, Laura contacted the MATSEC examinations board to ask why her son had not been notified about the exam date. The exam is being held on Friday. She was told that he never registered. She assured them that they had registered online. When they asked her if she received an acknowledgement, she said she had not.

An email to prove we tried

However Times of Malta saw an email, dated July 19, sent from the boy’s personal email account to registrations.matsec@um.edu.mt showing his ID card number and the exam he was registering for. The boy, who is not being named, explained that the email was there as a result of him following the link on the MATSEC application pages. This email is the only thing the family have in hand to prove that they tried to apply and, whatever happened, was a genuine error. 

“We were applying at a time when we had a family situation. There was an operation scheduled and we were trying to ensure all was settled before that. One of the things we did was apply for the resit. We did not receive an acknowledgement, but it was the last thing on my mind,” Agius said adding that the operation was eventually postponed.

Meanwhile, her son continued preparing for the resit and was disappointed when he found out he could not sit for the exam. Agius explained that her son wanted to study engineering at MCAST. Since he passed his maths O level he could still enrol in the course which required maths or physics.

However, he wanted to keep his options open and get his physics O level. “Maybe it was my mistake, I’m not sure. But, if we would have been given more time perhaps we would have solved it,” she said adding that while her son was lucky in that he would be starting the course he wanted, this may not be the case for other students whose lives would have to be delayed by a year due to a genuine mistake. If they miss the resit, they have to wait till the June 2023 exam session to sit for their exam.

It happened before

Meanwhile, commenting on Facebook, some mentioned how they went through similar experiences. One woman wrote: “That happened to us couple of years ago. He missed out on uni coz of it. And we definitely applied.”

A 20-year-old student who spoke to Times of Malta explained how he applied for his chemistry A level (advanced Matriculation) resit on July 21 through the MATSEC portal.

He only realised something was wrong when, unlike his friends, he did not receive the timetable. When he called the MATSEC board he was told his application was never received. For him, this will mean he cannot get into university this year since chemistry is a prerequisite for the course he wants to follow.

MATSEC explains

Asked about the situation, a spokesperson for MATSEC said it is not MATSEC’s policy to comment on individual cases.

Students planning to sit for their exams, including those held in the second session normally held in August/September, have three opportunities to apply.

He said all the dates for applications are published in the preceding year together with the timetable. Moreover, candidates are reminded of the registration period and procedure through a document that is included with the main session result slip.

For ease of clarification, candidates can register during the first call for applications.

The spokesperson said MATSEC is aware that some students may not be in a position to apply during this time window for a number of personal reasons and, in view of this, a second call for late applications is issued.

Furthermore, even after this period has elapsed, MATSEC still accepts very late registrations until a time where further acceptance would compromise the logistical process of the examination session.

"One may appreciate that each registration following the normal registration involves multiple tasks affecting different entities. It is worth noting that during the online examination registration process, candidates are informed that an automated email is sent to the registered email address confirming their registration," he said.