One month ago, the annual debate began about whether A-levels were being dumbed down. There were too many passes, the exam was getting easier, grades weren't worth the paper they were written on...

Yesterday, Education Secretary Estelle Morris started an independent inquiry into the exact opposite. There are claims that some students, apparently chosen randomly, have been deliberately marked down so that it did not appear that A-levels were getting easier.

This inquiry will take a week. It will be too long. Universities are already in freshers' week. Accommodation is already full. If students are re-graded after the inquiry, it is hard to see how they would be able to take their rightful place at the university of their choice.

There will be some fascinating litigation cases: how do you value the year an 18-year-old is forced to tread water waiting to take up the college place denied to them by the marking system; how do you measure the lifelong earning potential lost because a student ended up at a lower university rather than Oxbridge?

These cases will show, though, that we are not talking about dry statistics and grades. We are talking about the life chances of young individuals, their hard work and their dreams. We are talking about the future of our country which depends on our best pupils getting the best possible education.

In the weeks to come, there will be many calls for all manner of people to resign. If someone did deliberately manipulate grades, they must go.

We'd also add that for years now we have been saying that New Labour's Achilles heel is its love of spin. On this occasion, spinning exam results has led to the tarnishing of the A-level. Will this party never learn?

Secondly, there's Labour's love of league tables. It desperately wants to prove that educational standards are rising thanks to the money it is pouring in. The most visible way is through rapidly rising exam grades - and it is this pressure that has led to this shambles.

Finally, a few facts. This August, 94.3 per cent of entrants passed their A-levels. There was a rise of 4.5 per cent in the number of A to E grades - the biggest rise in the 51-year history of the A-level. If the trend continues, in 2004 everyone will pass.

What is the point of A-levels? Are they a certificate of school attendance? Are they a means of proving Government investment is working? Are they to encourage pupils to work hard on a wide range of subjects? Are they a measuring stick by which universities and employers can choose the most suitable candidates for courses and jobs?

Now might be a good time to address these questions and create a better system as the one introduced two years ago has become so tarnished no one knows where they stand with it.