Nearly 2,000 grades were changed after the fiasco

The prime minister is joining celebrities and business leaders in a campaign designed to boost the standing of A-levels - as pupils begin sitting them.

After last year's damaging A-level crisis, England's exams watchdog, the QCA, is working to try to restore public confidence in the exams.

Celebrities such as DJ Zoe Ball, comedian Graham Norton and the whole cast of Hollyoaks are putting their names to a whole-page advert published in the national press on Monday.

Others who are signing up to support the A-levels are Education Secretary Charles Clarke, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and Digby Jones, the director general of the CBI.

The advert says the signatories are proud of the achievements of those taking A-levels, and that the exam is still regarded as one of the most important qualifications any student can gain.

It says students are working as hard as ever to pass the exams - if not harder.

Down-grading

The campaign follows a fiasco over A-level marking which led to the resignation of Estelle Morris as Education Secretary and the sacking of the then QCA chairman, Sir William Stubbs.

Just over 1,950 A-level and AS-level papers were re-graded after complaints that grades had been lowered in a crude attempt to keep standards high.

Students and their teachers claimed university places had been lost because of down-grading.

A report into the affair by Mike Tomlinson blamed confusion about the standards of work expected at AS and A2, as the second half of the A-Level introduced is now known.

As a result of the Tomlinson inquiry exam boards were given new rules on exam grading.

The new campaign to boost the credibility of the exams is called "A level of pride".

Recognition eclipsed

The QCA's chief executive Dr Ken Boston, said: "No-one would deny that there were issues with the A-level system last year, which were rightly taken seriously by all involved.

"However, a consequence of these difficulties was that the debate on the system all but eclipsed recognition for the hard work students, teachers and parents devoted to these vital exams.

"A level of pride wants 2003 to be the year that we celebrate these achievements, and give young people the support they deserve."

He was backed by Richard Greenhalgh, chairman of Unilever UK: "Young people today know that qualifications matter and that working hard to get the best possible results is important to their future careers.

"As an employer with a significant graduate recruitment scheme that uses A-level results as one of the determinants of a candidate's suitability, we regard the A-level as a valuable qualification for people to attain," he said.