Morris sacks head of exams watchdog

Sir William Stubbs, chairman of exams watchdog the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, was today removed from his position by Education Secretary Estelle Morris.

The announcement of his sacking followed publication of the report into the A-level grading controversy by Mike Tomlinson.

Some disappointed students who did unexpectedly badly in their A–Levels are to be given higher grades, the head of the official inquiry into the fiasco said.

Mike Tomlinson said the exercise will lead to affected students having higher grades but no one will have grades cut.

He told reporters: "I am satisfied that some students have been inaccurately graded."

But the former chief inspector of schools concluded that there had been no politcal interference in the exam process by Education Secretary Estelle Morris.

He said that the actions of Sir William Stubbs, the chairman of the exams watchdog the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, were based on the "wholly proper and necessary concerns of the regulator".

But he concluded that some of the actions by the exam boards during grading exercises arose from pressure that they perceived they were under from the QCA.

And he described the resulting furore when some students expecting top grades found themselves failing some sections as "an accident waiting to happen".

Mr Tomlinson was asked to conduct an inquiry by Ms Morris after a row erupted over claims that A–Level students had been graded down to avoid allegations that standards were falling.

The recommendations were today dismissed by students affected by the controversy as "too little too late".

Calling on all papers to be re–marked one described it as "more of a gesture than a solution".

Ann–Marie Ellis, who sat English Literature at Wrekin College, in Wellington, Shropshire, saw her final grade drop from an A to a B when she was given a U–grade in her final exam – despite straight As in her five previous papers on the subject.

The 18–year–old, who was eventually accepted into Cardiff University after teachers appealed on her behalf, said: "Ideally all of the papers should be remarked.

"For the people who have already been rejected by universities they wanted to go to the report won't make a huge amount of difference to – not unless they are one of the select few whose papers are remarked."

She added: "It's just too little too late. This should never have happened in the first place. It was very unfair.

"The report doesn't give us any answers as to how it happened and perhaps they could have delivered an inquiry that wasn't so blatantly neutral. Confidence in the system is now at its lowest ebb."

Richard Cummings, whose overall mark in History slipped from an A to a B because of a C and a U grade in his two final modules despite consistently high grades throughout the last two years, said it should be every students choice to have their papers re–marked.

Richard, who studied at St Benedict's School, in Ealing, West London, also called for the education system to be "standardised" to prevent any future misunderstanding.

"I hope the report will help some people who weren't as lucky as me but it seems to be more of a gesture than a solution," he said.

He added: "People should not be afraid of grades getting higher because what is taught today is exam criteria – that's the only way people will achieve the grades."

Despite the questionable U–grade, Richard achieved the grades – three As and a B – to read English at Cambridge University.

But Tom Whittle, 18, was only accepted into Manchester University to read business studies after appeals to admissions tutors following a U–grade in the ill–fated English Literature paper at Wrekin College.

Today, his mother Christine Whittle, 47, whose two other sons have just begun college, described the last month as "every parents' nightmare" which had had an "unsettling effect" on her son and family.

Welcoming the recommendation she said: "What's going to happen in the future?, what's going to happen next year and the year after that?.

"They are dealing with people's futures. It's not just one exam. It will change where they go to university and their eventual CV."

Describing the controversy as "disturbing" she added: "It would be nice if they said that all papers were going to be regraded because there must be evidence that there has been some sort of manipulation."

"As far as I can see this is probably an effort to put the situation right but maybe they could have been a bit more forthcoming and told us who was responsible for this in the first place."