Education Minister Kirsty Williams said she was working to rebuild the trust of the public after this summer's exam results fiasco.
The lone Lib Dem in the Welsh Government said that Wales needed to come up with a solution for exams next year that the public and profession would have faith in.
She said: “We absolutely intend to run exams next year but need a consensus across the profession and public [in case they cannot] that the system we have works.”
She said that there were "lessons to be learned” after the flawed standardisation process, which downgraded thousands of results in Wales, was ditched after a public outcry.
Some A level students, who were told their upgraded results at the same time as GCSE results were published today, may already have missed out on university places.
Cardiff University is among those to warn they may have to defer some who have now met their offers until next year. Durham University has offered applicants money to defer until next year. Universities say they don't have space for all whose grades now meet their conditions.
After visiting Stanwell School in Penarth where she met pupils picking up GCSE results, Ms Williams said a review she announced earlier this week would probe what went wrong.
She promised the review on how this year’s results were handled would report back as fast as possible with next year’s exams already on people’s minds.
“I have absolute confidence in the WJEC and Qualifications Wales. We have all been working in an unprecedented situation and not in isolation but across the four parts of the UK, but clearly there are lessons to be learned.”
Pupils who already had their GCSE, A and AS level exams cancelled and education disrupted by school closures prompted by the COVID-19 lockdown, then had exam results confusion heaped upon them.
On August 7 it became clear thousands had been downgraded, less than a week before A level results and two weeks before GCSE results.
Asked how she could regain the trust of the teaching profession and students Ms Williams said: “We have announced the independent review into this summer and it’s important we learn lessons and prepare for how exams may be disrupted in future by this or another pandemic.”
She stressed that the standardisation process had been supported by the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, among others, but agreed more needed to be learned about what had happened since.
“During the consultation by Qualifications Wales there was significant support for the process from ASCL Cymru itself agreed it (standardisation) was necessary.
“It is absolutely impossible for every single teacher to be able to work in tandem. Clearly, in the end, the balance of fairness meant we moved to the CAG.
“The review will be really important in understanding what things can be done differently.
“We absolutely intend to run exams next year but need a consensus across the profession and public (in case they cannot) that the system we have works.”
Ms Williams said attention must also turn to the safe re-opening of schools in a few weeks.
Schools will open from September 3 but the first two weeks are optional.
“It’s really important that we successfully and safely open schools and plans for that are well advanced.
““All our attention and efforts must now need to be going to see children return to school in a safe way after all the disruption caused by COVID-19.
“It is absolutely our intention to limit disruption to education and we will be taking all possible steps to ensure schools remain open.
“If we get to a situation where we were again in the middle of a public health emergency that required us to close schools locally or nationally then all schools have been advised to have plans in place to minimise disruption to learning.”
