51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Higher education minister Margaret Hodge is looking at degree classifications amid fears of a repeat of the A-level fiasco, writes Alan Thomson.

Ms Hodge told a fringe meeting at this week's Labour Party conference in Blackpool: "There is something that leaves us with a bit of concern in the current regime."

Ms Hodge was responding to a question by Labour MP Ian Gibson, who chairs the science and technology select committee.

Dr Gibson said that ever better exam performance at degree level could lead to the sort of 11th-hour grade boundary changes that have caused such an outcry at A level.

Dr Gibson, a former academic at the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of East Anglia, said: "Are we not just staring down the barrel of a gun in higher education?

"Having marked exam papers myself, I know it is not a very robust system. I was never taught how to mark papers."