The A-level debacle and the accountability of ministers
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Your support makes all the difference.The sheer magnitude of the crisis over this summer's A-levels became clear for all to see yesterday as Mike Tomlinson, the former chief schools inspector who is heading the independent inquiry into what happened, revealed that as many as 450,000 A- and AS-level papers may have to be checked to see if they should be regraded. This means that as many as 100,000 students could be affected.
This announcement places a very grave question-mark over the way that the Oxford and Cambridge and RSA board behaved in setting grade boundaries. The vast bulk of the 31 different syllabuses now under scrutiny were marked by that board. We do not know precisely how many students will have their grades changed. However, the scale of the regrading meant that it behoved Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, to make a more fulsome apology than the one she managed when she had the attention of the nation's parents and children during yesterday's televised education debate at the Labour conference.
The problems of this summer must also make many wonder whether the regrading exercise can be carried out efficiently. To this end, we should welcome the innovation of having an independent observer appointed by the complainants – the headteachers' organisations – present at each regrading meeting. Their presence should help to ensure that the scripts are marked fairly this time. For regaining public confidence in the examination system is one of the most urgent tasks now facing exam boards, ministers and government advisers.
Ministers must take their share of the blame, alongside the representatives of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. So far only Sir William Stubbs, the chief executive of the QCA, has fallen, reluctantly, on his sword. We need to be clear as to whether David Blunkett, who was Secretary of State for Education at the time, or any other minister put pressure on civil servants to press ahead with the new A-level examination system, despite warnings from officials. In the meantime, and given the potential scale of the damage to young careers, a little more contrition by the Government would be fitting.
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