Morris was wrong to sack exams chief, says Labour MP

A leading Labour MP said yesterday that it was wrong for the former education secretary Estelle Morris to sack Sir William Stubbs, the head of the Government's exams watchdog, over this summer's A-level debacle.

Barry Sheerman, Labour chairman of the Education and Employment Select Committee, told the BBC's Today programme: "I think that Sir William is one of the finest public servants we have in the education world."

His intervention is bound to embarrass the Government since Sir William, chairman and chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority at the time of the fiasco, has said he is considering legal action for unfair dismissal if he does not receive an apology.

Mr Sheerman also said the Department for Education and Skills had "buckled under media pressure" in its reaction to headteachers' complaints about the low marks many students had been given.

In response, Ms Morris, who subsequently resigned, launched an independent inquiry headed by Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector of schools. As a result, more than 90,000 pupils had their work checked to see if they had been unfairly downgraded. But, as The Independent revealed yesterday, only 24 students will be switching courses or gaining a university place as a result.

Mr Sheerman – whose committee will release its own report after Mr Tomlinson has published his conclusions – told Today: "We've got a pretty good idea at the moment of what exactly happened."

He also angered headteachers by criticising the Headmasters' Conference (HMC), which represents heads of boys' independent schools and was a prime mover in persuading Ms Morris to start an inquiry. He accused it, along with Today itself, of creating an impression that the complaints meant "the end of the civilised world as we knew it" and said it should have apologised to his committee when it gave evidence on Wednesday morning.

Edward Gould, principal of Marlborough College and HMC chairman, said: "I can see no reason to apologise. Various points have emerged following the complaints that are now being addressed by the second stage of the Tomlinson report. We are trying to restore confidence in the system for next year's exams." He added that there were some "unresolved concerns" over the debacle.