The apparent lack of quality assurance and cavalier disregard for the interests of students is breathtaking

David Hart

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the government should remove Edexcel's licence as one of the three main exam boards for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

And the Association of Colleges has said that a survey it conducted revealed widespread concern among its members about the performance of Edexcel.

The Conservatives have asked for an independent inquiry into the qualifications system.

Tony Blair 'concerned'

The association - representing the colleges which teach the majority of post-16 students - said it had warned Edexcel months ago of continuing problems with its quality assurance.

The Education Secretary, Estelle Morris, has received a report on Edexcel which she demanded on Monday as a matter of urgency.

She has asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority - the regulatory quango - to bring forward an audit of Edexcel.

She was also having a routine meeting with the prime minister, who is said to be concerned about Edexcel's "sloppy" and "unacceptable" behaviour.

Reports of blunders

Mr Hart said: "If Edexcel have been as incompetent as they appear to have been, I don't see that the government has any option other than to sack them as an examining board.

"The apparent lack of quality assurance and cavalier disregard for the interests of students is breathtaking."

Edexcel came under fire at the weekend after it emerged that there had been an error in an AS-level maths paper sat by about 2,500 students on Friday.

Other errors have also been reported.

Responsibilities

Mr Hart said the government needed to ask serious questions also of the QCA and the Joint Council for General Qualifications, the umbrella body for the three main exam boards.

"They must take some responsibility for Edexcel's lack of quality assurance procedures," he said.

On Tuesday the QCA sent its director of quality audit into Edexcel to oversee its efforts to improve its performance.

The joint council said it was simply a co-ordinating body.

The director of curriculum and quality at the Association of Colleges, Judith Norrington, said: "Despite the millions of pounds colleges spend with them, we have had repeatedly to warn Edexcel of the problems colleges are facing across the country with their service."

In its survey of 200 colleges last August, almost seven out of 10 said Edexcel's responsiveness was either poor or very poor, compared with 18% in the case of the AQA board and 3% for OCR.

• 67% said Edexcel did not produce their results on time
• 73% still had unresolved issues with the exam body
• 73% said its performance was deteriorating.