Getting an A at A-level may get tougher

A-LEVELS could be reassessed to make it harder to get an A grade, the head of the exams regulator said.

Isabel Nisbet, acting chief executive of the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator, said the agency could consider "recalibrating" the exams if required.

Speaking after a Guild of Educators seminar on standards in London, Ms Nisbet said: "If the consensus was that the A grade was wider than it should be, the regulator could look at the question of redefining the level of attainment needed for an A."

She added: "I think we should be thinking 'what's the most valued way of showing the level of attainment?"'

The Government is proposing to review the future of A-levels in 2013.

Last summer, the national pass rate at A-level rose above 97 per cent and one in four was awarded an A grade.