Students, their parents and their teachers ... will want to know that this is really the last chance saloon for this organisation

Head teachers' leader David Hart

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) had given the board a month to come up with an action plan, having said it was failing to meet its responsibilities to schools and colleges.

It has now said the board has "achieved its first set of goals promptly".

But head teachers' leader David Hart has accused the QCA of accepting Edexcel's explanations too readily.

"Maybe they're under political pressure to make sure that Edexcel are given another chance," he said.

"But whatever the reason is this must be the last chance saloon for this organisation otherwise their contract frankly must be terminated."

David Hart: "Last chance saloon"

The QCA has the power to withdraw accreditation for Edexcel's qualifications, but many observers regard the practicality difficulties this would cause as being so great that it would not happen.

"Too many of Edexcel's centres have received poor service in 2001," the QCA review of its performance said a month ago.

"Most of this has been the major result of shortcomings in processing examination results and Edexcel's poor handling of the post-results services."

On Friday, the QCA announced that Edexcel had met the tests set for it, which were:

• co-ordinate the many reviews of the summer 2001 examinations series and produce a register of the lessons learned
• provide QCA with assurance that management structures, competence and procedures were appropriate to the delivery of results in summer 2002 and beyond
• present to QCA a fully documented plan for the summer 2002 examination series, identifying key tasks, milestone dates and responsibilities as well as a risk analysis and contingency plans.

But David Hart - general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers - said it was all very well saying they now had systems in place.

"I want to know what will happen if they don't work - in particular, will their contract then be terminated because I don't think they should be given another chance.

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

This was "a glaring omission" from the QCA's response, he said.

Handling complaints

The deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Gwen Evans, said Edexcel still had a long way to go before teachers' confidence in it would be restored.

Gwen Evans: Complaints not taken seriously

"But at least now pupils can have some degree of certainty that things are going to be better this summer," she said.

The board knew that ultimately its licence could be withdrawn - but there was another sanction: Schools would use other boards if they did not get good service.

Her union took up teachers' comments with the main boards - the Welsh Joint Education Committee, AQA and OCR.

"In all of those cases we have a very serious hearing, there's a real concern to improve, there's an acknowledgement that human error can occur all the way through the examination system and you have to build in procedures to deal with that."

But Edexcel was reluctant to take complaints seriously.

College view

The Association of Colleges produced damning results from a survey of its members at the height of Edexcel's public woes in January.

Its director of curriculum and quality, Judith Norrington, AoC's said on Friday that another more recent survey had asked about the performance of AQA, OCR and Edexcel in this year's January exams.

"Of the 106 replying, a bare majority do see improvements, but just under half still think Edexcel's services are getting worse," she said.

Deadlines

Edexcel has put the blame for its poor performance last year in part on schools and colleges - and given them a warning about late entries for its exams.

In a letter, its chief executive, John Kerr, appealed for their co-operation.

"As you know, we have been reviewing Edexcel's performance in the Summer 2001 examination session with the QCA," he wrote.

"During the review, it has become apparent that the large number of late entries has contributed significantly to our inability to provide a high level of customer service."

If Edexcel receives entries after the final deadlines it will charge centres an additional fee - and says it will not guarantee that the results will be available on the published dates.