Chulalongkorn University's (CU) faculty of law has apologised to five senior law students for its two-year delay in announcing an examination result.

The delay led to the students' expulsion from the faculty.

Chulalongkorn deputy rector MR Kalaya Tingsabadh said yesterday the university had provided two solutions for the students, while a panel will be set up to investigate possible malfeasance by the teacher responsible for the subject.

The five students, who are studying in their fourth year, were recently told by the university they would be expelled because of their poor grades in Law and Society, a first-year subject in which they enrolled two years ago.

University regulations say students whose average grades for all first-year subjects are below the minimum requirement will not be allowed to continue their studies.

It appears that after their Law and Society exam results were finally calculated with their marks from other subjects, these five students fell below the required minimum.

However, the two-year delay delay in announcing the exam results presented a quandary for the university, because the students had already successfully passed their second and third years.

The students reportedly kept contacting their lecturer to ask for their exam results and informed university staff of the delay repeatedly over the two years. However, no progress was made in their case. Even in the meeting with CU administrators yesterday, the students said they were not given a clear explanation of why the mistake occurred.

Assist Prof MR Kalaya yesterday said the university regretted the mishap and had come up with two solutions. For a student with a Grade Point Average (GPA) higher than 2, he or she will be automatically allowed to continue their studies in the fourth year.

Students whose GPA is lower than 2 will be allowed to re-enroll as a first-year student.

The faculty of law will cover tuition fees for all the students. They can also transfer their accumulated credits to other universities, she said.