Poor marking of school English exam papers has led to fresh calls for them to be scrapped.
Teachers in Essex have said they are fed up with inexperienced examiners giving pupils inaccurate grades in the run-up to taking GCSEs.
Schools in Colchester have been forced to return papers year-on-year, with some claiming they are getting to the point where they just ignore the results.
The key stage three English exams taken by 14-year-olds are supposed to give an indication of the level pupils are at.
But teachers say they are left to clean up the mess every summer by being forced to go through the exam papers themselves.
Caroline Haynes, outgoing head of Sir Charles Lucas School, Colchester, said: "Year after year we have issues with the English results. Last year was just abysmal. We're getting to the point where we just ignore them, which obviously isn't very good.
"Last year there were such inconsistencies in the marks, it was a waste of time. We are currently remarking them and checking them, which is a big job for us we don't need at the end of term."
Gerry Glazier, Essex division of the National Union of Teachers' spokesman, said: "The vast majority of teachers in English are extremely unsupportive of the current key stage three regime. They feel it is extremely counter-productive."
A spokesman for the National Assessment Agency (NAA), responsible for marking exam papers, admitted there had been problems with English.
He said: "We have always acknowledged that English is a challenging subject to assess."
Published Friday July 23, 2004
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article