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While Edexcel had been suffering in the media and OCR was attracting teachers’
complaints, AQA had survived relatively unscathed - at least publicly - until summer
2002, when for the first time it did not get all results t centres by the agreed date.
Were these problems the result of inefficiency, incompetence or mismanagement? To
discover possible answers, some of the internal pressures affecting AQA will be
considered. AQA is the focus principally because of my longstanding connection with
that board and previously with the AEB, one of its constituent parts. As a result I have
had an unusual degree of access to matters that are normally confidential. I have, of
course, asked for and received permission to use the material I have cited.