THE PRICE of pursuing examination grade justice comes too high, it seems, for most budget-conscious state schools. Thank heavens, then, for an intervention by one of the best endowed independent schools.

Eton College has sent the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority a dossier outlining cases where dodgy marks were given to pupils at the independent school. It fears that its experience is the tip of an iceberg.

The QCA has responded by launching an inquiry into marking standards.

Latest figures, for 2006, show just a tiny proportion of scripts at A-level (less than 0.1 per cent) and GCSE (0.2 per cent) were regraded after being marked again. An anonymous Eton teacher told The Times Educational Supplement (Feb 8): “Many state schools have a policy where they do not ask for remarking because of the cost. We found the inaccuracy of marks right across the examinations and across all boards. A lot of people will be seriously disadvantaged in their careers as a result of unreliable results.”

One particularly stark example cited by the school is of two pupils who were originally given no marks for an A-level Russian paper, who then got As when remarked.

In its Leader TES comments: “Eton has done the profession a service by compiling a well-sourced dossier which begs many questions about GCSE and A-level marking. The QCA has done schools an even bigger service by instituting an overdue inquiry into standards of marking. Yes, most marking is probably sound, but let’s not forget that when it isn’t, it can . . . affect career prospects.

“We can’t have a system when candidates with zero marks need a remark to give them the A they deserve. Confidence in the marking system is essential, as is the means to challenge it more easily than we can now.”

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