THOUSANDS of students will have to wait before learning whether their A-level papers will be regraded as a result of the exams fiasco.

Publication of the list was expected today, but it has been put back to enable the examination boards to "double check" their entries.

The news came as a spokesman for the independent inquiry into the grading row admitted that doubts existed over the reliability of AS-levels.

On Friday, Mike Tomlinson, who is heading the inquiry, said in his initial report that the "absence of a common standard for AS or for A2 contributes significantly to a lack of common understanding among those involved in teaching and examining A-levels".

A spokesman for Mr Tomlinson said yesterday: "There will be some investigations. Until we go further, we won't know for sure.

"Mike's initial view is that the problems associated with A2-levels are common to AS-level as well."

The Northern Echo revealed on Saturday how Ampleforth College, near York, had had serious problems with the grading of history and English AS-level coursework.

Headmaster Father Leo Chamberlain said he believed the coursework had been deliberately artificially depressed using "a crude mathematical formula".

It is believed that the boards will announce which of the A2 exams are affected tomorrow, having drawn up a list according to criteria laid down by Mr Tomlinson.

The announcement of how the regrading would work had been expected to come from the inquiry.

The new two-part A-Levels were introduced in September 2000 to encourage students to study a broader range of subjects than under the old version.

Candidates typically study four or five subjects to AS-level, before narrowing their choices to three A2s in the final year of school.

Each qualification consists of three units or modules and together they make up a full A-level.

Mr Tomlinson has criticised the Government for rushing ahead with the new qualification before it was tested properly.