Demand for checks on all A-level results may cause chaos

Grades row: Ministers respond to fixing claims by promising re-mark of 4,000 papers but schools seek wider inquiry

The decision to re-mark more than 4,000 exam papers at the centre of the A-level crisis is an attempt to tackle the accusations of grade-fixing head on.

But demands from Britain's leading independent schools for all this summer's papers to be rechecked against their original grade boundaries threaten to plunge the exam system into its biggest crisis yet.

Aides to Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, insisted last night that the re-marking would not be extended beyond the original disputed papers.

There is much at stake for the teenagers involved. Many have already lost university places after receiving unexpectedly poor grades and will be hoping that the re-mark will get them the grades they need.

Whatever the outcome, it is now too late for most students to take university places this year. Even if they were vindicated by the re-mark, nearly all will still be forced to take an unplanned gap year.

If every A-level grade had to be reissued, the system would be thrown into chaos. But the headteachers at independent schools who prompted the furore do not accept that re-marking only the 4,000 papers will address the problem unless grade boundaries are restored to their original levels. Their original complaints alleged that the Oxford and Cambridge exam board deliberately raised grade boundaries to make its A-levels appear more difficult.

Their fears appeared to be borne out when, in a highly embarrassing development, the board admitted it had deliberately lowered some students' grades to strike "a balance" between the results of the old and the new-style A-level systems.

The exams watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, said last night that it did not know whether the boundaries would be redrawn.

Some of the 4,000 students at the heart of the row have already reluctantly taken gap years to improve on their poor grades. These students can benefit from the re-mark only if given the grades they need and will be able to attend their first-choice university, albeit a year later than intended.

Others who accepted places at less coveted universities based on their lower grades will face tough decisions if they are eventually upgraded. There is no clear procedure for dealing with such students. Schools have suggested those left in this situation could sue for having missed a better place, or try to persuade their preferred university to admit them after the start of term.

Meanwhile, the exam board at the centre of the dispute, the exam watchdog and ministers all have a lot riding on the review. Ms Morris fears the row has undermined public confidence in the exam system. But although she hopes the re-mark will restore confidence, there is also a risk that it could lead to further complaints.

The furore has already made thousands of students uneasy about the grades they were awarded this summer but ministers have drawn a line between the 40 schools who "believe they have evidence" of grade fixing – which will have their papers re-marked – and those complaints made after the row began, which will not.

But if examiners conclude that any of the students at the heart of the dispute were unfairly marked down, many more aggrieved candidates are likely to come forward. Some of the parents of the original 4,000 candidates have considered taking legal action against the examining board.

Andrew Wheen, whose daughter Laura, 18, lost a place at Lancaster University when she was given a C grade in psychology after a prediction of an A, has considered going to court. Laura lost her place because her psychology coursework was graded U, a failure. Every other paper she took for the exam received an A grade.

A senior aide to Ms Morris said there was an established procedure for students who have papers re-marked, which would help any student upgraded by the review. "They will probably have to have a gap year but universities do what they can to admit students at a late stage. This happens every year, just probably not in such large numbers.

"There is a clear issue involving some schools and some students that needs to be resolved. If there are real problems we will address them. We cannot ignore them. There are people's futures at stake here."

The pupil

Ann-Marie Ellis, the strongest of her school's English literature students this summer, was initially denied her place at Cardiff University after her English A-level paper was marked down.

Despite scoring A grades on her other papers, Ann-Marie, 18, was awarded a U grade in the synoptic paper, which aims to test candidates' overall mastery of the subject. This lowered her overall grade to a B. "When I looked at the grade I was devastated. English was my strongest subject."

Although Cardiff initially refused to accept her, it relented after her school, Wrekin College, convinced it of the calibre of her work. "I've got the university place but I will always have a B grade A-level on my CV and I don't think I deserve it after all that work."

The exam board

The Oxford and Cambridge and RSA board (OCR), the third-largest exam board, admitted this week that in many subjects Dr Ron McLone, its chief executive, intervened to increase the mark needed for a particular grade to "maintain parity of standards" with previous years. The board admits requests for inquiries into grades rose from 1,600 last year to 4,000, but insists it followed the rules. In a letter to chief examiners last month, Dr McLone admitted awarding grades posed "a particularly difficult challenge".

The school

Knights Templar School in Baldock, Hertfordshire, was the first to complain of marking problems.

Fourteen of the school's 20 A-level psychology students were awarded unclassified U grades for coursework after scoring As and Bs in every other paper. Peter Chapman, the headteacher, said a disturbing number of students were awarded unexpectedly low marks. "Bright pupils did badly while the less able did very well. A strange topsy-turvy phenomenon has happened here."