THOUSANDS of Scottish pupils have signed a protest petition over this year's Higher English exam.

The petition on the website change.org - which has already attracted more than 8,500 backers - comes after the paper was changed following fears of a leak.

Although the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) changed the paper well before the exam was sat pupils only found out about the change two days before.

The SQA acted after allegations emerged that some pupils had been told by their teacher to concentrate on a particular passage in the book they were studying.

The petition states: "With less than 48 hours notice before the Higher English exam, candidates had additional stress and pressure put on them when they found out that the exam had been leaked and so changes had been made to it.

"Exam time is already stressful enough without the additional stress and worry that these circumstances caused so many candidates across the country.

"To simply issue a statement of reassurance and to say not to be anxious or worried is not good enough and the SQA must take these unforeseen circumstances into account, not only when they are marking candidates exam papers, but also when they are setting the grade boundaries."

An SQA spokesman said: "A potential issue with one of the Higher English question papers was identified. We made the appropriate adjustments and a new paper was distributed to centres. Our Chief Invigilators have been informed. We have robust procedures in place to ensure the integrity of our qualifications. We took swift and appropriate action, meaning candidates will sit the examination as intended.”