Like many I was dismayed, but not surprised, to see that exam fee spending has increased yet again (“Exam fee spending soars by #163;17.7m”, April 23). It would be easier to swallow such increases if we were getting a similar increase in value, but continual tinkering only seems to undermine what was once considered a “gold standard” exam system.

The fact that studies show more is spent on exams than on books is just as worrying. The figures seem to indicate exam boards are an industry generating income of #163;470 million. I am sure that whoever forms the next government will not want to cause harm to what is clearly a successful industry - but I can’t help feeling that some of this money would be better spent elsewhere ...

Jim Stearns, Headmaster, Shoreham College, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.