Opinions were surveyed before last summer's grading crisis

Most found it hard to predict what results students would get, usually underestimating them - with some being shocked by the grades awarded.

But they said it was hard to judge whether exams were easier because of changes to the system.

The opinions - in a major study of people's attitudes commissioned by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) - were gathered before the furore over A-level grades last summer.

'Nervous'

The study was organised by Professor Roger Murphy of the University of Nottingham, with the data being collected by Mori.

I suppose people will be even more suspicious of standards because the whole thing has come off a pedestal Report author Prof Roger Murphy

The QCA has published its summary but not the full report, which was delivered to it in May 2002.

Professor Murphy told BBC News Online it was "disappointing" that people did not have access to the whole document.

"We think there are some important things in there that don't get included in the summary.

"It has quite a lot of verbatim quotes and I think they were terribly nervous about people pouncing on those and quoting them out of context."

As for the impact of the A-level grading crisis, he said: "I suppose people will be even more suspicious of standards because the whole thing has come off a pedestal. People realise it's not the precise science they thought it was."

The government and the exam boards had been "their own worst enemies by not coming clean about how tricky exam grading is".

"When they hit problems the wheels come off," he said.

'Perceptions'

The QCA said on Friday: "This research is about perceptions of standards: it tells us nothing about standards themselves.

"Perceptions are important because they point to issues we must address to build confidence in the system."

Queries about falling standards have become something of an annual ritual when the exam results are published each August.

Prompting them is the rise in grades. In 2002, the A-level pass rate across England, Wales and Northern Ireland shot up by 4.5 percentage points on the previous year, to 94.3%. Back in the early 1980s almost a third of entries failed.

Exam 'philosophy'

Prof Murphy's four-part approach reviewed previous studies, interviewed 27 people from "appropriate constituencies (government, teaching unions, trainers, etc.)", conducted focus groups with teachers and included questions in a regular survey sent to 1,778 adults in England and Wales.

It is complete and utter nonsense to suggest the views of half a million teachers are reflected by the 37 who took part in this survey Department for Education

The four focus groups involved 37 teachers from the primary, secondary, and further education sectors.

The teachers felt it was hard to say if exams were easier because no straight, like-with-like comparison could be made between O-levels and GCSEs, or A-levels and the new AS/A2-levels.

They felt changes in exam "philosophy" and formats had made the qualifications accessible to students with a wider range of abilities - "in turn leaving some to conclude that exams are indeed getting easier".

Such changes included:

• Examining what the candidate knows (rather than trying to find out what they don't know)
• Testing their breadth, rather than depth, of knowledge
• The move away from terminal exams in favour of module and coursework assessment
• A more structured and simpler presentation of questions.

As evidence for this, teachers said they found it increasingly difficult to predict grades accurately - "most teachers usually find that they underestimate what students will achieve".

And there had been an "increase in the proportion of students who achieve the highest grades (often coming as a shock to some teachers)".

'Improved teaching'

Concern about the maintenance of exam standards "was compounded by teachers' doubts about, and lack of trust in, exam boards."

Many felt that students were now taught how to pass the exam, rather than being taught the subject Reports on teachers' views

But the teachers also felt pass rates had improved because of improvements in teaching, "alongside the proliferation of targets set for teachers, departments and schools".

"Changes in the way students are prepared for exams was felt to contribute to an increase in exam pass rates: many felt that students were now taught how to pass the exam, rather than being taught the subject."

Among the general public there was "no consensus" on whether standards had changed.

Some felt the greater use of coursework had made exams easier, some harder.

The "key players" interviewed agreed that direct comparisons over time were "impossible" - but said there were many reasons why exam grades should have improved.

These included better preparation, better assessment methods and social changes.

Official response

They were concerned about "simplistic" media reporting of the issue.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: "It is complete and utter nonsense to suggest the views of half a million teachers are reflected by the 37 who took part in this survey.

"It is also an insult to the hard work of the pupils themselves.

"Independent evidence shows that exam results are improving because of this and the higher standards of teaching that we now have in our schools."