Exam crisis: Former Ofsted chief has one week to rule on allegations

The former chief inspector of schools Mike Tomlinson is to head a two-stage inquiry into the A-level exams fiasco.

He has been given the remit to rule within a week on whether the Government's exams watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), put pressure on the exam boards to raise grade boundaries in this year's A-level exams to avoid a row about grade inflation. This is the most serious allegation raised by headteachers because the QCA has a role as an independent arbiter of the exam system and should not be trying to manipulate results.

As part of this stage of the investigation, Mr Tomlinson, 60, who retired earlier this year from Ofsted, the Government's education standards watchdog, to give himself more time to watch cricket, will also have to investigate how the grade boundaries for this year's examinations were set and whether they should stand.

Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, made clear yesterday, this will not involve a re-marking of every script if they are found to have been wrong. It would merely mean reassessing the grades awarded if it was found that the boundaries were wrongly determined.

Once he has completed this task, he will go on to his second remit which is to look at the relationship between the QCA and the exam boards.

The QCA is responsible for validating exam courses but also has a role in policing the entire examination system. In the past, the second half of this remit has been carried out by Ofsted and Mr Tomlinson will have to decide whether it is right for the body which in effect sets up the examination system to rule on whether it is being properly delivered. Headteachers have pointed out that QCA is policing itself and have demanded change.

He will also rule on whether A-level standards have been consistent over time, with a particular emphasis on standards since the shift to the new system of AS-levels followed by A-levels a year later.

In the meantime, the results of the QCA's inquiry into heads' complaints about the marking of coursework for the Oxford and Cambridge and RSA board's English, history and psychology exams will be published today. Ken Boston, the new chief executive of the QCA, is investigating coursework marking at 100 schools where complaints have been made.