Cambridge wants to know A-level marks not just grades

Cambridge is preparing to make offers of places on the basis of examination marks as opposed to the traditional set of grades.

Other universities are certain to study the initiative closely as a means of increasing transparency in admissions.

Students across the country are awaiting this year's A-level results, which are being posted in schools on Thursday.

For the first time, entrants are expected to have passed a quarter of exams at grade A while one in ten students will come out with at least three As.

The relentless rise in pass rates has deluged universities with applications from well-qualified students with the same high grades.

But this year, for the first time, admissions tutors were able to request a breakdown of students' grades in each individual A-level unit as well as an overall grade.

Half of universities and colleges - a total of 160 - have asked to receive this extra information when results are issued next week.

Many will use it to help decide whether to allocate places to borderline candidates who just missed their conditional offer grades.

Cambridge went further and specified A-grade performance in certain units when it made conditional offers to a few candidates.

The university is now pressing for details of pupils' actual marks to be made available as well as the grades they achieved in the three examination units which make up the second year of A-level studies.

A further 12 leading institutions are in talks with exam boards about receiving extra information to help discriminate between high-flying applicants.

Ministers pledged in a 2005 exam reform White Paper to "support those universities who wish to have marks as well as grades".

Students are already given their marks alongside their grades.

Cambridge hopes the marks information could be made available on a trial basis from next year.

Dr Geoff Parks, director of admissions, said that breaking down results into units did not go far enough. "Most of our applicants get mostly As across all the units," he said.

"If the marks are reported, we could make offers on the basis of accumulated marks."

He said that among A grade candidates, some achieved 95 per cent and others 81 per cent. An A pass mark is 80 per cent.

• Parents could soon be told which teachers are worst at securing top A-level and GCSE grades for pupils - paving the way for them to sue schools.

A leading exam board is considering telling parents how a teacher's results compare with other staff taking classes in the same subject.

Edexcel already plans to give heads detailed feedback on how their pupils perform in the exams.

They will be able to compare how different classes fared on each question, potentially pointing to areas of the syllabus that were poorly taught.

Now the board wishes to "open a debate" over whether the same information should be given to pupils and their parents.

The board's managing director Jerry Jarvis admitted the move could encourage "ambulance-chasing lawyers" to sue schools for teacher under-performance.

But he said: "I think organisations such as mine should be as open and transparent as possible. This stuff is too damn important to pupils.

"If you have been badly taught, you should know about it. Why should you be in a lottery, for God's sake?"