THE interim findings of the Tomlinson Report shed little light on the fiasco surrounding this summer's AS and A2 examinations.

We do not need an expensive independent inquiry to tell us that the examination structure is flawed and was introduced with undue haste.

Thousands of students and teachers have been shouting that from the rooftops for 15 months.

The only certain outcome from the report thus far is the sacking of Sir William Stubbs, chairman of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. He had to go, according to Education Secretary Estelle Morris, because of the breakdown of trust between the QCA and the education system.

In view of the lack of confidence in the Government's handling of the debacle, Ms Morris should perhaps judge her own standards against those she expected of Sir William and consider her own position.

In the past few days we have witnessed unseemly attempts by both Sir William and Ms Morris to save their own skins. They have put their own careers before the injustice meted out to thousands of young people because of the examinations systems for which they are ultimately responsible.

Six weeks after the examination results and just a few days before the start of university terms, we still don't know how many students have been affected. We don't even know which subjects have been affected.

We advise Ms Morris to put as much effort into finding definitive answers to these crucial questions as she did in finding a scapegoat to mask the inadequacies of a fatally-damaged system.