SCORES of students across Hampshire today discover if their A-level grades are to go up after being adjusted in the wake of the exam "fixing" scandal.

Many could face a scramble to get their first choice university places, with term well under way and many universities warning they are full.

An independent inquiry into the A-level marking scandal is expected to find as many as 10,000 students have been affected nationally. Of those, up to 2,000 students could have their grade changed and be able to claim university places they thought they had missed.

About 250 teenagers at the New Forest's Brockenhurst College are waiting to hear if their grades will rise.

Deputy principal Derek Mather said: "We are expecting re-grading in three subjects which, in total, involve about 250 students. Our concern, obviously, is for the student and if any are re-graded we will have guidance in place for them in case they want to discuss their higher education or career plans."

Southampton's Tauntons College also has 70 students waiting for news of the re-grading. Principal Jenny Fitton said there were examples of "very strange" marks in history and dance.

The inquiry has heard evidence from private and state schools that A-level grades were fixed by exam boards amid concerns that the course was being seen as too easy.

Headed by former chief schools inspector Mike Tomlinson, the inquiry found that in some subjects grade boundaries were shifted by as much as 13 marks, increasing the numbers failing and making it harder to get top grades.

In an interim report, he indicated that the country's three main exam boards had felt under pressure from the exams regulator, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, to ensure results were in line with last year's.

Details of students affected are to be unveiled today.

Students whose grades go up have been warned by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service that they only have 11 days left to decide whether to switch universities.

But few would be able to switch this year, with most having to go on a gap year and take a deferred place in 2003.

Education secretary Estelle Morris believed most students would stay where they have already settled in.

Head of Southampton University admissions Angela Milne said she was waiting to see how seriously they would be affected.

"It is only when we get the information published tomorrow that we will know the scale of it. It's watch this space really."

Are you caught up in the A-level fiasco? If so contact Daily Echo education reporter Gareth Lewis on 023 8042 4499 or e-mail gareth.lewis@soton-echo.co.uk