THE Queen's Golden Jubilee has been blamed for a decision to move forward examinations for thousands of students.

Headteachers say the celebrations and attempts to avoid examination clashes have prompted officials to move the half-term holiday at the end of May.

Parents have expressed concern that students will have to take some AS-levels before the break, depriving them of revision time.

David Heaton, principal of Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington, said: "It puts a lot of pressure on the teaching staff to get through the syllabus and on the students, because we can't give them study leave," he said.

"It is an unfair situation because they are losing a half-term, which is essential revision time."

Helen Hamilton, headteacher of Polam Hall School, Darlington, said: "The continued changes in the A and AS-level examinations this year have been particularly sad because the same people are being affected following the AS debacle last year."

David Dunn, headteacher of Yarm School, near Stockton, which has been at the centre of an exam board row over an impossible AS maths question, said: "It's just moved a week.

"The AS-levels will be completed by the holiday and as soon as they come back we will start teaching the new courses."

A spokeswoman for the Joint Council for General Qualifications said the changes to the timetable had been partly due to the Queen's Golden Jubilee, but mainly as a result of the chaotic time-table clashes of last year.

The changes came at the request of former Education Secretary David Blunkett and a revised timetable was sent out for consultation before a new schedule was produced.

"When more students are sitting more exams you are going to have pressures on the time tables," she said.

The revelation comes only days after The Northern Echo uncovered a catalogue of problems with exam boards, including administrative mistakes.

In an investigation, three-quarters of headteachers in the region said they were not satisfied with the service they were getting from the boards.