Exam papers should put difficult questions at the end so students do not get “demotivated”, Ofqual has said.

A-level and GCSE questions should also avoid sarcasm, according to the watchdog, which has published draft guidelines on how exams can be made more “accessible” for pupils.

Colloquialisms, metaphors and idioms should be avoided when constructing questions because these could constitute “unnecessary barriers” to youngsters, it said. Exam boards should also take care not to use language which “may cause offence” and also not use “unnecessary negative, narrow or stereotypical representations of particular groups”.

Ofqual advised boards to “consider the impact of the sequencing of tasks” on students.

“For example, if an assessment is designed to differentiate performance through the use of tasks of different levels of demand, placing more demanding tasks at the beginning of the assessment might demotivate some learners,” it said.

“It might prevent them from fully demonstrating the required knowledge, skills, understanding or behaviours in the remainder of the assessment.”

Ofqual’s draft guidance will be finalised next spring following a public consultation.

Exams are due to take place next summer for the first time since 2019, but with a number of amendments in place.

Fieldwork ‘difficult to arrange due to public health restrictions’

Ofqual has confirmed that students will be told in advance what topics will be on papers to make up for the disruption to their schooling during the Covid crisis. They will not be given so much information that they are able to memorise answers to write in exams as this would give some an unfair advantage over their peers.

The sweeping changes proposed for next summer’s exams come after two years of exams being cancelled because of the pandemic.

In 2020, a controversial algorithm was initially used to calculate students’ grades, but was dropped following an outcry.

Teachers’ predicted grades were then used instead, which led to huge grade inflation and a surplus of students qualifying for university places. The process was repeated in 2021.

Ordinarily, pupils would have to revise the full syllabus just in case a question came up on a particular topic. But for the 2022 exams, students will be given a degree of choice as to which questions they answer under the proposals.

In order to free up teaching time and reduce pressure on students, Ofqual has recommended that students would not need to answer the full suite of exam questions for GCSEs in history, ancient history, English literature and geography. 

This means they will not need to revise the entire syllabus but will be able to miss out topics in the knowledge that they will not be examined on them.

Field trips for geography GCSE and A-level, as well as other subjects such as geology and environmental sciences, will be removed from the course requirements. The regulator explained that fieldwork might be “difficult to arrange due to public health restrictions”.