A massive review of A-level papers will go ahead in the latest twist of the exams row.

Mike Tomlinson, the head of the inquiry into this summer's exams fiasco, announced on Wednesday that 304,000 papers will be re-examined.

A total of 31 subjects are affected - all but seven of them involving exams set by the Oxford and Cambridge and RSA exam board.

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Gwen Evans, deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers told ePolitix.com: "Today's news about A-Level re-grading is both sombre because of its sheer scale and at the same time reassuring because there can now be no lingering doubt about the seriousness with which re-checking is being undertaken.

"ATL, which has already submitted oral and written evidence to Mike Tomlinson is confident that this unprecedented exercise is going to have the transparency that students, their parents and their teachers have every right to expect"

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT, told ePolitix.com: "I welcome Mike Tomlinson's announcement. It is crystal clear that the vast majority of subjects where there were grading problems centred on one board.

"Mr Tomlinson has given himself a very tight deadline in which to restore students' confidence in their A-level results. That deadline is absolutely essential if we are to bring this fiasco to an end.

"The fact that many more students are involved than originally anticipated illustrates the depth of incompetence at QCA and examination board level, in particular at OCR.

"There must be no repeat of this fiasco. Currently there is no alternative to A-levels and students must feel confident that the exam is worthwhile and that their efforts will be properly rewarded."

Forum Response: Universities UK

A spokeperson for Universities UK told ePolitix.com: "We welcome Mike Tomlinson's progress to date on the A level inquiry. We particularly welcome the fact that there is now a clear process underway and a date by which students and universities will hear about the results of the regrading. As we've made clear, the aim of universities is to ensure that students suffer as little as possible as a result of this unprecedented situation. However, we still don't know the scale of the problem or how many students might be involved. Our advice for students remains to wait untilthey hear the revised results before contacting the universities."

"We are continuing to work closely with the Department for Education and Skills and UCAS to deal with the practical implications for students and universities. We are very pleased that Estelle Morris has given us writtenassurance that no university or college will suffer financially as a result of student transfers or possible loss of students, arising from the re-grading."