Senior executives facing redundancy at education watchdog 'are scapegoats for exam fiasco'

More than 40 senior managers at the Government's exams watchdog have been told their jobs are at risk.

The move, which union leaders say amounts to a declaration of redundancy, is part of the attempts to modernise the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) after last year's A-level fiasco.

Dr Ken Boston, the chief executive of the QCA, told eight members of the authority's executive and 37 senior officials that they had to reapply for their jobs. Three senior executives have already been made compulsorily redundant, union leaders said. The rest will know their fate next week.

A number found their jobs had been given to outside candidates, according to the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union. A spokesman warned that the uncertainty among the authority's executives could cause chaos as it approached its busiest time of year. Jason Hogg, the union negotiations officer for the QCA, said: "The staff that are most affected have excellent performance records and were not the cause of last year's troubles – yet it seems they are being targeted as scapegoats.Dr Boston arrived with a reputation of being a tough trouble-shooter from Australia who has in the past come into conflict with the trade unions."

A QCA spokesman said it had fully consulted staff and trade unions about the re- organisation. "We are confident that this ... will enhance QCA's reputation as a truly world-class organisation," he added.

The QCA was criticised after last summer's regrading débâcle, which coincided with the first year of the new-look A-level exams. An inquiry by Mike Tomlinson, a former chief schools inspector, revealed that exam markers were unclear on the standards to which they should be marking.