Last August’s exam confusion caused by the failure of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service in Cheltenham to understand Scottish qualifications is unlikely to be repeated after a fresh agreement between Ucas and the Scottish Qualifications Authority. The clearing-house mysteriously awarded C passes at the grade candidates sat rather than the compensatory passes at the grade below, boosting the university chances of around 1,000 students. It had already informed the universities by the time the error was discovered.

The service also misinterpreted the initial results of several thousand candidates who had incomplete information against their names. Ucas officials did not appreciate that the Scottish system does not grant a grade until all three units are complete. Many students were in further education.