Inquiry clears exam boards over errors

The series of blunders that marred this year's A-level and GCSE exams were "unusual" and did not show an overall failure of the system, an inquiry by the exam boards found yesterday.

About 100,000 students are thought to have been affected by mistakes found in 12 different exam papers this summer.

The errors ranged from wrong answers in a multiple choice paper, to impossible questions and printing mistakes.

The exam boards involved published the findings of their own inquiries into the blunders.

The Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents the awarding bodies, said there had been an "unusual cluster" of unrelated errors this summer, but no indication of a systemic failure.