National test appeals multiply

Appeals against the results of this year's national tests of 11-year-olds and 14-year-olds quadrupled to a record 200,000.

The figures suggest a lack of confidence among schools about their quality.

The numbers continue a terrible week for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the government agency responsible for marking the tests. Ken Boston, chief executive, offered to resign, before a report on the 2008 delivery of the key stage two and three tests. The QCA's board suspended Mr Boston and a senior QCA executive after the government-commissioned Sutherland Inquiry criticised the agency's role in the affair. The QCA published the appeals figure on Wednesday. It is unclear how many pupils' results are being challenged by schools. The QCA has apologised for long delays to test results but has insisted that the marking quality was good. Lord Sutherland considered the delays, not standard of marking. But schools have expressed fears about quality for months.

David Turner