MORE than 130 Southampton teenagers were hit by this summer’s GCSE marking fiasco, a Southampton MP has said.

There has been an outcry from students and teachers over the decision to suddenly raise grade boundaries for June’s GCSEs, compared to those sat in January.

Southampton and Hampshire’s education bosses have joined calls for an investigation, saying exams regulator Ofqual “has some serious questions to answer”.

Now Southampton Itchen Labour MP John Denham has said education bosses told him more than 130 students in the city were the worst affected by the marking down.

These were students who had been in line for a C grade, which is often the key to getting into sixth forms and apprenticeships, and ended up with a D instead.

He told the Daily Echo: “I am supporting the campaign to get these exams regraded in line with children who did them in January.

“I have already heard of pupils who are being turned down from sixth form colleges and being refused apprenticeships.

“These are students who, in June, we confident they had done everything they were supposed to do to get a C grade.

“The damage that will be done to them will last for years and years.”

Mr Denham raised the scandal in the House of Commons last week, calling for a Parliamentary debate.

Ofqual is accountable to Parliament, he told MPs: “It is clear that tens of thousands of young people went home in June, confident that they had done everything that their teachers and the examiners asked them to do, only to get devastating results in August.”

Andrew Lansley, the leader of the House of Commons, said the Education Select Committee was looking at “precisely those issues”.

Education Secretary Michael Gove had not interfered with Ofqual’s decision, he added.

Mr Denham said he would be repeating his calls in another debate tomorrow.