The UK exam board Edexcel has stepped in to help with the re-marking of this year’s disputed national curriculum tests after the removal of ETS, the American firm responsible for this year’s marking fiasco.

The move will put Edexcel in pole position to bid for the contract to run the national curriculum tests next year.

But it will leave the company, which held the contract for marking the tests, taken by 1.2 million 11 and 14-year-olds from 2005 to 2007, with just six months to get the 2009 tests up and running.

A spokeswoman for Edexcel said that it would consider whether to bid when the contract is advertised next month. In the meantime Edexcel is expecting to be helping with re-marking reviews of at least 41,000 pupils, the vast majority of them in English writing.

This is significantly higher than in previous years and the number is expected to increase further still once all schools have received their test papers back. Thousands of papers have still not been returned to schools, which have until September 10 or, ten days after the start of the new term, to submit appeals.

The National Assessment Agency (NAA), the government agency responsible for ensuring delivery of the tests, said that Edexcel would provide logistical and managerial support and data-entry facilities to ensure that all reviews are concluded as quickly as possible and returned to schools.

The NAA took over management of appeals from test contractor ETS Europe in July after a string of administration problems, that led to the late delivery of results and raised serious questions about the quality of the marking.

David Gee, Managing Director of NAA, said that any school with evidence that the marking scheme had not been adhered to, should apply for a review immediately.

Jerry Jarvis, Managing Director of Edexcel, said it was crucial that teachers, and students and their parents, had faith in the marking of the tests.

“We are pleased to be able to assist NAA by applying the management, logistical and systems expertise and resources of our organisation to ensure that pupils get the results they deserve this year,” he said.

ETS’s £156 million five-year contract with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which oversees the NAA, was dissolved earlier this month by “mutual consent”.

ETS was ordered to pay back £19.5 million to the QCA plus £4.6 million for the cancellation of invoices and other charges — more than two thirds of the money paid out for the 2008 tests.

Problems with this summer’s marking came to light in July when Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, announced that the tests results would be delayed.

But markers had been warning of problems with marking and inputting data for some time.

ETS was widely criticised for its handling of the tests, which resulted in thousands of schoolchildren breaking up for the holidays without knowing their results.

The firm apologised to pupils, parents and schools for the delays, but insisted that there was no evidence of problems with the quality of marking.

An independent inquiry into the delays, led by Lord Sutherland, is due to report back in November.

The QCA has indicated that the contract for next year’s tests will be for one year only.

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