The New Zealand Qualifications Authority says it hopes to remedy an error in an NCEA level one German exam when the papers are marked.
Questions in a comprehension section of the exam were supposed to be in both English and German but, to the surprise of students and teachers, they were only in German.
The authority says an error was made, and it could be remedied when the exams are being marked.
The head of German at Mt Albert Grammar School says every student would have reacted to the situation differently and those who became stressed will do badly.
Warwick Gibbs says he is already seeing enrolments in German drop and he fears the botch-up will only further deter students from studying languages.