Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector of schools in England, says pupils and their parents can be confident they got fair grades this time.

But he has warned there is still a "great deal to be done if the summer exams are to run as smoothly".

As a result of the Tomlinson inquiry, exam boards have been given new rules on exam grading.

The inquiry was sparked after schools and students claimed their papers had been down-graded, depriving them of university places.

Confusion

Almost 2,000 people got better results last year as a result of Mr Tomlinson's inquiry.

His report blamed confusion about the standards of work expected at AS and A2, as the second half of the A-Level introduced is now known.

All those whose grades went up following the inquiry sat exams set by Oxford and Cambridge and RSA (OCR).

Mr Tomlinson said that OCR's chief executive Ron McLone over-ruled his most senior examiners in deciding where to set grade boundaries for some papers.

As a result of the Tomlinson inquiry, the code of practice governing exam boards was tightened.

Confidence

In looking at January's exams, Mr Tomlinson monitored the processes for awarding grades at OCR and the two other English boards - the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) and Edexcel.

He said: "The awarding process observed placed significant and proper emphasis on professional judgment, with statistical evidence used most appropriately.

"All final grade boundaries were agreed with the chairs of examiners, in line with the revised code of practice.

"On this basis, and assuming the marking of scripts was accurate, students, their parents, schools, colleges, higher education and employers can have confidence that the grades awarded represent the true value of the quality of the work."

Re-grading of A-levels under Tomlinson meant results were not confirmed for some time and could not be added to the school performance tables.

But the Department for Education has now said the 2002 A-level results will be added to the school performance tables on Thursday 3 April.

The GCSE tables were published belatedly in January but the A-levels were even more delayed due to last year's re-grading fiasco.

Exam boards are gearing up for this summer's exams. They have secured an extra �6m from the government to recruit more examiners.

The money will be given to schools to organise cover for teachers released to mark exams.

The exam boards want schools to release teachers for 10 days next term.