The regulator of qualifications and exams in England is investigating the National Council for the Training of Journalists after four students sat the same paper twice.

The four candidates, who were taking their resits at different examination centres, were each presented with an exam paper that they had previously sat during the course of the last academic year.

The mix-up came to light after a complaint from one of the students affected, Sunjay Kakar.

As a result, the NCTJ said it had now tightened its exam procedures and that it had met yesterday with the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) to address the issue.

“As is common practice with many awarding bodies, exam papers are re-used at different centres during the academic year,” the NCTJ said in a statement.

“This is to accommodate students on more than 70 accredited courses at 40 universities, further education colleges and private providers.

“An administrative error occurred as a result of trying to accommodate re-sit requests from students who were no longer on accredited courses.

“Immediate action was taken and these students are no longer permitted to re-sit exams at other centres and must wait for the two national dates in May and November.”

The principal examiner with the NCTJ, which ran 17,889 exams in the 2008/09 academic year, has allowed the results of the four re-sit exams to stand.

A spokesperson for Ofqual said: “We monitor awarding organisations to make sure the way they operate is fair, consistent and follows our regulations.

“We have a system in place for handling complaints about qualifications, exams and assessments and we require that all awarding organisations have procedures for dealing with complaints and appeals.

“We understand that a candidate has complained to the National Council for the Training of Journalists and was not happy with the response he received.

“Ofqual is now looking into this matter in accordance with its complaints procedure.”