A-level chief faces sack as exam row explodes

The head of the Government's exams watchdog is likely to lose his job after his claim that Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, interfered with the independence of the inquiry into A-level results was rubbished by almost all of the education world, including the head of the inquiry.

Pressure will mount today on Sir William Stubbs, the chairman of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, as the former chief inspector of schools Mike Tomlinson publishes the results of his inquiry. He said he was "completely satisfied" his inquiry remained independent.

Mr Tomlinson is said to believe Sir William may have created a "perception" that he was putting pressure on exam boards to downgrade results by saying they could face an inquiry into A-level standards if the pass rate was too high. His report will also clear Ms Morris and her deputy, David Miliband – both of whom gave evidence to the inquiry – of any involvement in an attempt to fix results.

Last night senior educationalists said it would be impossible for Sir William and Ms Morris to work together after their row. They said that, at the very least, the board of the QCA should pass a vote of "no confidence" in Sir William. They said they could not recall a time when relations between a minister and a regulatory body had been so bad.

Contingency plans are being made by exam boards to regrade all this year's A-level results if the inquiry recommends that higher-grade boundaries introduced late in the marking process were incorrectly fixed.

Sir William, who has one year of his contract as chairman of the authority to run, claimed yesterday that Ms Morris had "acted in a most improper way" and that she had jeopardised the independence of the inquiry by getting her officials to contact exam boards and ask them to prepare for a "worst-case scenario" re-grading all the A-level results. He even said Mr Tomlinson was considering resigning as a result.

But Mr Tomlinson issued a statement yesterday, saying: "Whatever happened late yesterday afternoon and evening has, in my view, had no impact on my inquiry, nor will I allow it to do so. I have not resigned, nor do I intend to do so. I do intend to fulfil the remit to report, initially, my preliminary findings by the end of this week. I am completely satisfied that my inquiry remains independent. If I believed for one moment this independence was compromised, I would resign."

Head teachers' organisations, who made the original allegations that the results had been fixed, and the exam boards immediately united for the first time since the crisis began to insist Ms Morris had done nothing improper. One of her aides said: "We would rightly be criticised if we were not preparing contingency plans. We put all the different options to the exam boards. We have also been discussing the situation with the universities."

Ms Morris said it was her responsibility to offer "reassurances to young people and their parents as to what will happen and how long it will take".

In a statement interpreted by some as showing signs of regret for his outburst, Sir William said he was "very pleased to hear that Mike Tomlinson is content that the independence of his inquiry has not been compromised". Sir William did not turn up at his office yesterday after doing a series of media interviews in the morning.