A Department for Education spokesman said:
The Secretary of State warned when he came to office that the GCSE system had serious weaknesses and needed fundamental reform.
The department was already fixing some of these issues - including scrapping the modular approach, like the January assessments that led to last year’s grading problems.
We are now making further reforms to GCSEs, including overhauling league tables so they are fair to schools and pupils, and still give parents and the public the information they need.
The judgement demonstrates that overall Ofqual got it right last year. Attention can now focus on reforming GCSEs ready for first teaching in 2015.
DfE media enquiries
Central newsdesk - for journalists 020 7783 8300