Universities attempt to clear up mess as students claim it is 'too little, too late'

Headteachers said last night that the A-level exam was tarnished by the marking fiasco and would have to be replaced by a "better and broader" system.

Headteachers welcomed the upholding of their allegations that the QCA had exerted pressure on exam boards to lower this summer's results to keep them in line with those in 2001.

University leaders pledged to do everything possible to minimise disruption for students but the National Union of Students said candidates had already endured unacceptable pressure because of the marking crisis.

However, students who had their A-level papers downgraded dismissed the report's recommendations as "too little, too late". Ann-Marie Ellis, who sat English literature at Wrekin College, in Wellington, Shropshire, and saw her final grade drop from an A to a B when she was given a U-grade in her final exam, said: "Ideally all of the papers should be remarked."

Mandy Telford, NUS national president, said the union was "deeply concerned" that the problem had been allowed to occur in the first place. She said: "Thousands of students have either been denied a place altogether, or have accepted a different course or university to their preferences. This adds more pressure at an already stressful time when students are making difficult decisions that will affect their future."

Roderick Floud, president of Universities UK, said Mr Tomlinson's initial report left universities still unable to estimate how many students might be regraded and want to change courses. "Our aim is to ensure that students suffer as little as possible as a result of this unprecedented situation," he said.

Professor Floud welcomed the announcement that the numbers of papers which must be regraded will be confirmed by Tuesday next week, with affected papers regraded by the beginning of the following week. "This speedy response will help to resolve this difficult period of uncertainty that students are in," he said.

In a joint statement the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) said the inquiry endorsed their long-running complaints to the Department for Education that Curriculum 2000, the new system of AS and A2 exams, was introduced too quickly.

However, Edward Gould, headmaster of Marlborough College in Wiltshire and chairman of the HMC, said headteachers were disappointed that Mr Tomlinson's report did not address accusations that this summer's AS-level exams had also been downgraded.

He added: "We are disappointed that the report believes that the main problem is around the grade E boundary when our evidence suggests that it is throughout the grades, in particular around the C grade boundary."

Gwen Evans, deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "What should have been done is a proper trial on the AS and A2 aggregation method. Had they done this, much of the mayhem would have been avoided."

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said headteachers' demands for an independent inquiry had been "fully vindicated" and welcomed the sacking of Sir William Stubbs. "Of course we need a new examination system," he said. "I think in the long-term the A-level system is finished, there were flaws in it which cannot be removed without moving to a better and broader examination system."

The CBI called for the Government to act quickly to restore employers' confidence in A-levels, saying it was "premature" to talk of switching to a baccalaureate.

John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director general, warned that the crisis had dented the confidence that employers, teachers and students had in the A-level exam. But he added: "It is premature to talk of new qualifications such as a baccalaureate. The introduction of AS levels, which employers welcomed, still needs time to bed down."

Damian Green, the Conservative education spokesman, called for Estelle Morris, the Education Secretary, to be sacked, saying she "has been acquitted of malice but convicted of incompetence.''

Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, said: "It is essential that we immediately move to a single examination body to avoid the confusion arising between different boards."