In 2010, the A* grade will be awarded for the first time in A-Level examinations, for marks over 90 per cent. The government has decided to introduce the A* to tease out the brightest students, due to the more prestigious universities receiving more applicants than places available and then finding it hard to differentiate between the best candidates.

However, England’s Higher Education Minister, David Lammy, worries universities may unfairly reject pupils whose schools failed to predict accurately that they may get an A*.  

In March, Cambridge University said it would require prospective undergraduates to have one A* and two A grade A-Levels from next year, but said they would base individual offers on a range of factors including GCSE results and interviews, and would not rely solely on A-Level predictions.