A STUDENT in Chard who claims a teacher told him his place in Holyrood Academy’s sixth-form was successful before receiving a letter in the post stating otherwise, said he is “devastated”.

Brandon Bush, 16, of Bubwith Close, picked up his GCSE results on Thursday but did not open his envelope until later that day when he was with work colleagues.

He claims he was told by head of sixth-form Carem Seib that he had secured a place to study A-levels but then received a letter on Friday morning saying he was unsuccessful.

He told the News: “I was really excited because it would have been the best scenario for me.

“I was told you have got into the sixth-form but that I had to change subjects.

“When I saw the letter I was devastated because I have not prepared anything else.”

Brandon was hoping to study business studies, psychology, sociology and the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness.

To be accepted into the school’s sixth-form, students are required to gain five GCSE grades at A* to C level and they need a B grade to guarantee their chosen subject.

Head teacher Martin Brook said Brandon did not get the grades for sixth-form.

He added: “We have stringent entry requirements because the A-levels are so difficult.

“We would never accept students on courses where we do not feel there is a high chance of them succeeding.”

Mr Brook said if Brandon was told he had been accepted, then this was an “error on their part” but added that it was a very busy day and he believed the teacher was speaking to many students at a time.

He said the school had invited Brandon in to discuss alternative paths with one of its career advisers.

He added: “We take the future careers of our students extremely seriously and never intentionally mislead our students.

“We would never set them up to fail.”