Universities call for single board to run A-levels

The three English exam boards should be replaced with a single awarding body, university leaders have told the inquiry into the future of A-levels.

The system "militates against efficient and effective processes" during students' university applications, university vice-chancellors, college principals and Ucas, the university admission service, have told Mike Tomlinson, who is heading the inquiry.

They also say that having only one exam board would mean fewer syllabuses, a shorter marking time and results being sent to students and universities faster.

The future of the exam boards will be tackled in the second stage of the independent inquiry by Mr Tomlinson, a former chief schools inspector, whose report is due to be published this month. The first stage of the inquiry resulted in nearly 2,000 students being upgraded after his investigation into whether this summer's A-level results were rigged.

The joint submission from Universities UK, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) and the Standing Conference of Principals (Scop) said: "A move to reduce further the number of awarding bodies offering qualifications used for entry to higher education would be helpful, in that it would reduce the risk involved in transmission of results used for decisions at confirmation [of places] and clearing.

"At present, a plethora of different practices and formats adopted by individual awarding bodies militates against efficient and effective processes used within Ucas and its member institutions. If less, there would also be fewer specifications, timetabling clashes, a shorter marking time and faster provision of results."

Pressure is growing on Charles Clarke, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, to review the licences of the three boards – the Oxford Cambridge and RSA, the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance and Edexcel.