Medical students at a leading Scottish university are being forced to resit an exam after evidence emerged of "collusion".

Around 270 final-year undergraduates were informed by the University of Glasgow's medical school on Monday morning.

They were told a clinical exam they sat earlier this year had been declared void after it emerged a handful of students had shared information about the test on social media.

The students responsible are now facing disciplinary action and a fresh exam has been timetabled for early May.

Professor Matthew Walters, head of the university's school of medicine, dentistry and nursing, described the incident as "disappointing" and "unprecedented".

He said: "We discovered that there has been a breach of security and that, using social media, a very small number of students were sharing information about this examination.

"In an abundance of caution, and with the interests of the public as our primary concern, we didn't feel we could use that examination as the assessment to ensure that our students are fit and ready to graduate and work on the wards.

"Although we didn't have any evidence that the results of the exam have been compromised, we felt that the safest course of action was to scrap the exam and put on a whole fresh assessment."

A university spokesman added: "The responsible students are now subject to disciplinary and fitness to practise procedures and, after consultation with the senate of the University of Glasgow, the affected examination has been declared void and a new clinical examination will be set for all final-year students."

The test involve is known as the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), a practical exam which involves students completing a number of clinical challenges on a ward.