Exams body bars media from annual conference

The Government's exams watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, yesterday took the unprecedented step of barring all journalists from its annual conference.

The QCA, whose chairman Sir William Stubbs was forced to resign as a result of the A-levels marking fiasco, said it had taken the decision so that "its stakeholders" could discuss the fall-out from the affair in private. A QCA spokeswoman said it was important that stakeholders were "allowed the opportunity to express their views freely".

The decision was criticised by headteachers' leaders – one of the groups that will attend the conference in London today. John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said: "This is a public body spending public money. It should be accountable to the public for what it does. It would have been an ideal opportunity for the QCA to start the process of rebuilding its reputation."

Sir William was forced to go by Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, after the independent inquiry into the A-level crisis found he had warned exam boards they would face an inquiry if the pass rate this year was too high. Mike Tomlinson, the former chief schools inspector who is heading the inquiry, exonerated him of malpractice but said the boards did feel under pressure to increase grade boundaries because of his intervention.

Today's conference will be addressed by Ken Boston, the new chief executive of the QCA who took up his post just three days before the inquiry was announced, and David Miliband, the minister for Schools Standards, as well as Mr Tomlinson.

The Department for Education and Skills was told of the decision to hold the conference in private yesterday lunchtime. A five-yearly review of the QCA's performance, published earlier this summer, said the authority should be more openwith the media.

At last year's conference, Ms Morris revealed plans to reshape education for 14 to 19-year-olds, including the opportunity for 14-year-olds to go out on work experience.