A struggling teenager was allowed to take his maths A-level papers a staggering 29 times until he passed, it emerged today.
In a damning indictment of the resit culture, the student sat one paper for each of the six modules needed for the qualification.
He then went on take an astonishing 23 resits, an exam board chief revealed.
Andrew Hall, chief executive of the exam board AQA, used the pupil as an extreme example of the retake culture surrounding A Levels, the Sunday Times reported.
He backs plans by exam regulator Ofqual to limit retakes to just one per paper as part of a huge shake up of A-level exams.
Speaking at the Westminster Education Forum last week he said 'resits have done serious damage' to the credibility of exam system, and refereed to the AQA pupil who finally gained the qualification in 2010.
Universities have added pressure to the proposals, where growing numbers of departments are refusing to accept results of resist when offering places.
An analysis of last year's A-level results by AQA, one of the three main boards in England, has shown resits have boosted grade inflation.
Without the possibility of retakes, the proportion gaining A* or A grades would fall from 24.5 per cent to 19.6 per cent.
Those scoring B or above would have slipped from 50.3 per cent to 42.4 per cent.
Ofqual's proposals for new A-levels a tougher grading system and an end of january resits.
The AS-level could be scrapped entirely, marking a return to the two-year A Level.
The new A-levels would be phased in subject by subject over four years, with traditional disciplines likely to be prioritised. By 2018, all old-style A-levels would be scrapped.
