Ofqual, the exams regulatory board, has admitted to having identified the GCSE grading system loopholes three years ago itself, but failed to take action, which has lead to messed up mark sheets for most pupils in this year’s GCSE exam results.

The watchdog accepted to have known about the questionable grade boundaries which were set in a small number of English units over the past few years. The regulator is said to make a report in the regard and publish it today.

The exams regulator raised concerns that the GCSEs were unable to maintain the standards because GCSEs allowed students to “bank” grades early. The Times Education Supplement has reported that Ofqual had come up with a logical solution for the problem which had erupted last week, but had neglected to implement it. Ofqual suggested a ban on the early banking of marks in case the results prove to be too lenient or too harsh later.

Ofqual’s investigation is likely to indicate that candidates submitting results for marking in the winter were weaker and those in the summer. Due to this, pass marks had to be discarded for June students to avoid “grade inflation.”

Headteachers have called for the exams to be regraded, having claimed that almost around 67,000 teenagers to have been affected by the grading boundary changes in GCSE English.

It may be noted that the National GCSE results that were published last week across England, Wales and Northern Ireland revealed 63.9% of pupils gained at least a C, compared with 65.4% a year earlier. For the first time in the 24-year history of GCSE results, the A*-C pass rate has fallen.

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