No pressure to fiddle 1

It is not the case, in my experience, that examination boards "fiddle marks" ("Pass rates are all about the cash", Letters, July 16).

Mark adjustment goes on for a variety of valid reasons such as the presence of mitigating circumstances, mark condonement (where it is allowed) and even occasionally when subject examiners agree they have got it wrong.

The examination board is there to convert the fragmented information delivered by the assessment system into a summative judgement about a given student's performance.

I have never come across, and doubt whether the academics involved would tolerate, any "administrative pressure" to fiddle results.

Bob Ryan
Wiltshire