What actually happens in my experience is there is a filing cabinet with the exams in locked away which the FI's have access to. They then give the exams and debrief etc and then putt he sheets into the training records.
Then at the end of the students course the boss or local examiner comes in a sits down and transfers everything to the form.
You are of course correct MJ, that is exactly what happens in too many schools.
But let's stop and look at this for a moment. Saving lots of bits of paper then transferring lots of bits of data onto the application form at the end of the course, simply converts 9 minor tasks into one larger task, which will often have to be rushed as the student is leaving the school. It also increases the risk of things getting lost along the way. At best it causes delays when students want their application forms when leaving the school ("sorry, you'll have to wait a week or so until I have time to fill in the form") and at worst it results in the problem reported by the OP in this thread.
The whole process is made much easier if an application form with the basic details is raised when the student joins the school, then gradually filled in as the training progresses. Unfortunately this requires a more "grown-up" attitude on the part of those involved. When the weather is good the FIs are out flying, so the paperwork tends to be left to the bad weather days. In effect the recording process then depends upon the weather. This is precisely why I did not want any of the FI's involved in doing the exam records for the Foundation Degree courses.
The compliance with the Standards Documents could be improved, if the CAA inspectors were to devote a little bit more attention to examining the documentation during routine audits. If the inspectors were to insist on seeing the partially completed application forms at every audit, I suspect that the standards would improve fairly quickly.
In due course, get the results filed online direct to the CAA.
Standards Document 11 states that in the event of a candidate failing an exam the ground examiner is to complete the "Examiners Report Theoretical Knowledge Examination", give a copy to the candidate and send a copy to the CAA within 14 days. I wonder how often that actually happens and how often the CAA carry out checks on it.