Plans to reform the university admissions system could see students sitting up to three A-levels in one day, a senior examiner has warned.
Chief executive of Cambridge Assessment Simon Lebus said key changes to the the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), would put a huge strain on the examinations timetable, The Telegraph reports.
Under the reforms, students will sit exams as early as Easter and results will be published at the start of July, rather than mid-August. Applications would also be limited to two choices instead of five and degree courses would start in October.
Ucas has previously warned significant reforms are needed to the current system as it is "complex, lacks transparency for many applications and is inefficient and cumbersome".
The current system has attracted criticism as it bases students' applications on predictions, leaving many pupils without places if they fail to make the grades.
Lemus addressed a meeting of the Westminster Education Forum and said the move would put "increased pressure on students".
"I don't think we should trivialise or underestimate quite how significant some of these impacts on timetabling could be."
But Sion Humphreys, policy adviser for the National Association of Head Teachers, told the conference: "Most of the risks and costs seem to be laid at the feet of schools and colleges, and comparatively fewer at higher education."
She added moving the start of first year of university back a week might relieve some of the pressure on schools.