A SCOTTISH exam paper has had to be withdrawn because of a mistake.

Examiners said an error had been identified in a diagram in the National 5 Modern Studies paper to be sat by pupils on Friday.

A corrected replacement paper has now been sent out to all schools by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

The SQA said the exam timetable would continue as planned and that no pupil would be disadvantaged because of the error.

The mistake has come at a difficult time for the SQA with the organisation under fire from teaching unions over the burdensome nature of assessments.

The SQA was also criticised by politicians after The Herald revealed that last year’s computing studies National 5 contained several errors.

Education Secretary John Swinney told the Scottish Parliament at the time: “I think, frankly, that is not good enough, these issues should be checked properly, there is adequate opportunity for this to be done and I have made clear my discontent about that to the chief examiner.”

The previous year the body admitted a mathematics Higher exam was too hard with the pass mark dropped significantly to ensure no pupils missed out.

An SQA spokesman said: “We identified one typographical error on a diagram in the National 5 Modern Studies question paper, and quickly acted to issue replacement papers.

“We have procedures in place should an issue of this nature occur. All centres have been provided with clear instructions on how to handle the old and new papers.”