Universities could turn to entrance exams because they can "no longer rely on A-Levels” it has been reported.
With exams cancelled for a second straight year across secondary schools teachers have been forced to hand out predicted grades instead.
The Telegraph has reported exam grade "inflation" could be even higher this year.
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A university source, told the Mirror: "It will be extraordinarily messy. It literally could be a tsunami of As and that puts the Russell Group of universities in a very odd position – how do you disaggregate the best students?"
Prof James Tooley, vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, said: "If there is a system of exams that admissions officers can't really use, perhaps it would be better to take this away from exam boards and bring it back to universities.
"This is certainly an idea we would be interested in exploring.
"It's a big step, but universities are feeling frustrated that they have no longer got an objective measure."
A Department for Education spokesman said in a statement: "Exams are the best form of assessment but, in the absence of those this year, there is no one better placed to judge young people's abilities than their teachers, who see them day in, day out.
"As in previous years, the Government has been working closely with universities ahead of results day to ensure as many students as possible can progress if they get the grades they need."
Ministers have faced huge criticism for their inability to learn from 2020.
Lessons over school closures and examinations from the first lockdown were "not learnt", leading to a "pause, rewind, repeat" approach, according to the Institute for Government.
Published before this month's A-level and GCSE results, the think tank's report says the schools' shutdown triggered "easily the most disruptive period in children's education since at least the start of the Second World War".
It says the “most unforgivable aspect of what happened is not just the failure to make contingency plans in the summer of 2020 but the refusal to do so – when it was already obvious that fresh school closures might well be needed, and that exams might have to be cancelled again”.
The study - 'Schools and coronavirus: The Government’s handling of education during the pandemic' - accuses ministers of “dreadful" communications.
It read: "Repeated declarations that schools would open or close, or that exams would be held – despite the evident uncertainties – until reality struck.
"The result was U-turn after U-turn, with pupils, parents and teachers left bewildered and floundering time and again”.
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