GCSE grading row reaches high court  Alliance of schools,
councils and pupils to argue Ofqual and exam boards acted
illegally in changing English boundaries Pupils fill an exam
hall to take a GCSE exam at Maidstone Grammar school in
Maidstone, Kent, U.K. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the
Association of School and College Leaders, said it was 'contrary
to natural justice' for rules to be changed halfway through a
school year. Photograph: Alamy  Thousands of students could see
their GCSE English grades increased retrospectively through a
high court case beginning on Tuesday in which an alliance of
schools, councils and pupils will argue that exam boards and the
government's qualifications watchdog acted illegally in changing
grade boundaries midway through the 2012 exams season.  Tens of
thousands of pupils received a GCSE grade below what they and
their teachers had expected. It emerged that the exams regulator
for England, Ofqual, raised grade boundaries between exams sat
in January and those taken in