A LEADING Bolton headteacher fears there could be a repeat of last year’s GCSE grading debacle unless there is “urgent reform”.

Philip Britton, head of Bolton School Boys’ Division, one of the country’s top schools, has written to all three Bolton MPs raising concerns about the way exams are assessed.

He has warned that if nothing is changed last year’s exam chaos could happen again.

Following the publication of 2012 GCSE results, Bolton’s headteachers wrote to education chiefs to complain about the changes to the way English exams were marked.

Grade boundaries were raised at the last minute between the January and June exams, leaving thousands of teenagers with disappointing results, with some youngsters predicted to get a grade B or C getting a grade D.

In his letter to the MPs, Mr Britton said “it is clear that little has actually been done to ensure anything different this summer.

“Further, I find it astonishing that there has been so little comment in political circles about the High Court judgment that whilst the English grading was legal it was unfair.”

Mr Britton said leading independent schools had taken the lead, with the support from the State-sector, and that current standards in examining were “not acceptable”.

He added that those teachers who work for exam boards are let down by the systems and processes.

Mr Britton said: “Too little has changed to ensure this summer will produce grades that do properly reflect the work of pupils.

“A few weeks ago the High Court ruled that last summer’s grades were unfair. I have seen far too little comment about that judgment from politicians.

“When exactly did it become acceptable for students to be found by the High Court to have been treated unfairly by the educational process?’ “OFQUAL and the exams appeals procedure need significant and urgent reform.”