Ofqual has updated its advice on appeals for GCSEs and A levels this year to advise pupils and families not to seek legal advice regarding appeals on grades.

The exams regulator updated its page on appeals to say: “You do not need to take legal advice to help you to submit an appeal.”

Related: GCSE and A-level results: Appeals legal bid ‘immoral’

Teacher grades: Schools expecting ‘huge’ number of appeals on GCSE and A level results 2021

A levels 2021: Third of teachers fear excess appeals

It follows reports that law firms are launching services for pupils planning to challenge their teacher-assessed GCSE and A-level grades.

Last week, headteachers condemned the practice as “depressing”, with Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, criticising the “threatening overtones of the compensation culture that has crept into society”.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said the practice was “immoral” and compared it to “ambulance-chasing”.

There are fears within the education sector that the number of appeals is likely to be very high this year.

In a Tes survey of over 2,800 grading teachers, over a third said they feared that the number of appeals would be unmanageable.

In July, Mr Barton warned MPs that schools were facing a “huge” number of appeals this summer, as some parents threaten to get lawyers involved over grades.