A SIXTH former left feeling “betrayed” by an exam paper full of last year’s syllabus has launched a petition.

Rosie Mahoney, a biology student at St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School in North Finchley, is one of thousands who sat the A-level exam issued by Edexcel last Thursday.

The paper also included a poor quality diagram meaning candidates could not properly answer some of the questions, had grammatical errors and was an exact copy of a paper issued a few years ago.

Her petition calling on the exam board to lower the grade boundaries has now been signed by just under 4,000 students from across the country.

North Finchley resident Rosie said: “I’m not going into my next exam in the best frame of mind. I feel betrayed by Edexcel and I don’t think I can trust the content of their exams.

“I was expecting a few people from my school to sign the petition so I couldn’t believe it when I saw people from all over the country signing.”

The 18-year-old says those who sat an AS resit last week had an unfair advantage because the questions were almost identical and the information was still fresh in their minds.

She is now calling on education secretary Nicky Morgan to get involved over fears it could mean some do not get into their chosen universities.

Rosie, who hopes to study economics at the University of Nottingham in September also wants the board to accept its mistake.

Classmate Ikeoluwa Akintola, who wants to go on to do biochemistry at Royal Holloway University, said: “I was hoping to get an A but I feel this exam will have a negative effect on my overall grade.

“It’s totally wrong that they didn’t warn us that there would be questions asking about last year’s stuff."

Students have tried to tweet Edexcel about the blunder but have had no reply.

Alex Purpura, 17, was dismayed at Edexcel’s lack of direct contact with students.

She said: “We’ve had no replies from Edexcel but we’re hopeful the fact so many people have signed the petition will force them to.”

One anonymous teacher who signed the petition claimed the paper only included 34 per cent of the A2 syllabus.

Edexcel students still have another biology exam to sit later this month.

A spokesman from Edexcel, who was not named, said: “The specification is clear that some content may draw on AS material as the assessment is synoptic.

“The synoptic assessment accounts for less than a quarter of the marks available.”