A college has blamed a soaring rise in applicants for a congested enrolment day that saw some students waiting up to six hours.

Carshalton College said the number of students arriving at the college with their grades to enrol was up by 50 per cent from last year, which lead to some computer systems failing to cope under the pressure and the resulting backlog.

However, one parent told the Sutton Guardian the delay was “worse than a hospital accident and emergency department or the majority of flight delays”.

Sue Merchant, of Epsom Downs, said: “I have rarely encountered such a shambles.

“Had I known that the process was going to last from 10.30am until 4.30pm, I would have dropped my son at the College and returned for him six hours later.

“As it was, I kept on thinking, ‘It can’t be much longer now’, and was forced to telephone to cancel several engagements which I had for the afternoon, including taking a blind lady to an appointment.”

The college, which offers a strongly vocational curriculum, had 4,300 students in 2007-08, of which 1,500 were full-time students aged 16 to 18 and 720 were full-time adult students.

Principal Dr David Watkins apologised for the inconvenience and said steps had been taken to ensure the delay would not happen again.

He said: “Thursday, August 27, was the national GCSE results day and Carshalton College witnessed a staggering 50 per cent increase in the number of students arriving at the college with their grades to enrol on a wide range of courses.

“Although additional staff were employed to provide extra support and help to all applicants to enrol on to their chosen courses, there were some backlogs.

“Unfortunately, on that day too, some of the computer systems could not cope with the exceptionally large numbers and there was a delay for some people to complete their enrolment.”