Just when they thought they could enjoy their summer holidays, sixth form pupils at a city school were forced to repeat an entire year – because their teacher took off with all their coursework.
The sixth form students had to start from scratch after the member of staff stopped teaching at City Academy in Bristol - and now can't be found.
Officials said the science tutor - who hasn't been named - left the academy last summer but failed to leave students' coursework behind. This meant they had to retake the whole year.
The BTEC Level 3 Applied Science two-year qualification was based on coursework, rather than exams.
It meant that 11 sixth form students had to retake one year with one forced to cram two years' worth of work into one.
The school made several attempts to track down the lost coursework and the teacher to no avail.
Despite the teenagers' efforts to catch up, at least four students fell short of what they hoped to achieve.
One BTEC student said she was 'angry and upset' by the outcome.
Another said she had regretted enrolling at the academy, saying: "I've gained nothing here in two years and it's been wasted time for me. We trusted the school but it has failed us."
City Academy's principal Gill Kelly told the local paper: "In September 2013 it became apparent that a member of staff who left the academy that summer had not left behind the coursework she had been marking.
"Despite the academy's best efforts to contact the teacher and locate the coursework, this was to no avail.
"The students concerned were given assurances they could complete the qualification in the space of a year.
"Teaching and classes were adjusted to do so, twilight sessions laid on after school and deadlines were extended significantly.
"The school regrets that some students were unable to engage with this added level of support and were therefore only able to achieve the equivalent of one qualification, rather than two, although this is not true of all the students in the original group.
"Out of 11 students, four were removed from the course due to either poor attendance or wider issues and three students went on to achieve the grades they hoped for."