To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many appeals were made by (a) students and (b) schools to examination boards following the publication of A level examination results in August 1998. [67962]

Information on the number of A level appeals submitted in respect of the 1998 examination results is not available centrally. Except in the case of privately entered candidates, appeals may be submitted only by the school or college concerned, and not by individual candidates.New arrangements to be introduced from summer 1999, following a review of the qualifications appeals system, will mean that statistics on appeals will be collected and published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in future years.