Teenagers come top in A-levels by 'parroting'

Ofqual raised "significant concerns" over "highly formulaic" exam questions that meant pupils only had to learn a fifth of some courses in order to pass.

Teachers may dislike the limiting effect of such predictable papers but they are not likely to complain when their pupils score good results, the watchdog said.

The findings will be seized on by critics of the system as damning evidence that exams have become easier while teachers drill pupils in test technique.

The report said there was an "increasing" tendency for questions to use the exact wording found in the course syllabus.

This was a particular problem for exams in the second year of A-levels "which surely should be set at a level which assesses deeper levels of understanding".

The watchdog said most GCSE and A-level papers were not overpredictable. But it highlighted a string of problems:

In A-level English, a question about the nature of the tragic hero in literature "produced many answers which were little more than regurgitations of prepared material".

In psychology A-level, "overcoached candidates failed to cope" when questions required creative thinking.

Foreign language GCSE oral exams covered the same topics in role plays every year.

In the "highly formulaic" GCSE media studies, pupils were thrown when one question changed slightly from previous years.