Report calls for shake-up of university admissions

The final report of the independent inquiry into this summer's A-level fiasco, to be released tomorrow, will call for a radical shake-up of university admission procedures.

Mike Tomlinson, the former chief schools inspector who led the inquiry, will make clear that he backs moves to allow sixth-formers to apply for degree courses after they have taken their A-levels, rather than be offered places on predicted grades as at present.

Mr Tomlinson believes that the current system can lead to injustices, particularly if students get better grades than expected. He told The Independent: "A-levels have been operating under the same timespan for 50 years, and yet we are making more demands on examiners and asking them to mark more papers."

Evidence given to the inquiry outlined two ways of altering the system: introducing a six-term year with A-levels taken at Easter, or putting back the start of the university academic year from October to January. Either proposal would have the added benefit of allowing more time for appeals against disputed A-level grades.

Many influential educationists have given evidence to the inquiry. Chris Price, the former Labour MP who led an inquiry into the school year, Tony Higgins, the chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, and Universities UK, the umbrella body of vice-chancellors, broadly welcomed the shake-up.

Mr Price is calling for A-levels to be brought forward to April, with results published at the end of July. Mr Higgins and the vice-chancellors say they would oppose plans to start the university year in January.

The report is likely to bolster confidence in the new A-levels and AS-levels. It concludes the crisis over "grade fixing" was triggered by Ron McLone, the chief executive of the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA exam board, who wrongly believed new A-level exams should be made harder than the ones they replaced. Mr Tomlinson is expected to recommend tighter control over the heads of the three top exam boards.