Former exams chief joins attack on Tory leader

Iain Duncan Smith's attack on AS-levels faced fresh criticism yesterday when the former head of the country's exams watchdog described his remarks as "completely unnecessary".

The Tory leader triggered outrage from the Government, headteachers and union leaders on Wednesday when he questioned whether the qualifications were "worth the paper they are written on".

Sir William Stubbs, the former chairman of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, has joined the criticism, declaring that Mr Duncan Smith's remarks had "no substance at all".

In an interview for GMTV's Sunday Programme, due to be screened tomorrow, Sir William said Mr Duncan Smith had made hundreds of thousands of students feel that they were working for something that was worthless.

"He has certainly set a hare running that has no substance to it at all and to be causing hundreds of thousands of young people, not only those that finished their A-levels, but all of those that are studying their A-levels, now to feel that they are working for a qualification that is worthless.

"I think with hindsight he would probably agree that that was not a wise thing to have said," he said.

Sir William, who was forced to resign from his post after this summer's regrading fiasco, was seen by many Tories as a natural ally against Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

However, he made clear that his unhappiness with Ms Morris did not prevent him from attacking Mr Duncan Smith's intervention at Prime Minister's Question Time this week.

Sir William also criticised the Department for Education for "spinning" during the A-level crisis. "There certainly was a lot of spinning going on and very early in the controversy that was happening both from the Department and wider in Whitehall, that I don't think is healthy," he said.