Pupils taking GCSE exams will be asked multiple choice questions for the first time and be allowed to take unlimited resits.

It has also emerged that, under a planned overhaul of the system, up to half of GCSE English marks would be awarded for basic skills such as punctuation.

The planned reform of the exam system has fuelled accusations that testing standards are being lowered. Bethan Marshall, a senior lecturer in English education at King’s College London, told the Times Educational Supplement: “If you make 50 per cent of the GCSE about doing the basics, you are dumbing down.

“The subject is about so much more than being able to communicate accurately. And if you’re still doing basic skills at GCSE level, Heaven help you. It’s pretty boring.”

Ministers said last night that the overhaul was an attempt to ensure all school-leavers gain basic numeracy and literacy skills.

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, denied reducing GCSE English to “primary school level” and insisted that the changes would ensure that pupils who passed were ready for the workplace. He added that students would still be required to have “deep and broad subject knowledge”.

Under the revamped exam system, maths and information and communication technology students would potentially be awarded up to

50 per cent of the total marks for under standing the basics, known as “functional skills”.

One suggested question for an English test reportedly asks pupils which word is spelt incorrectly in the sentence: “Be careful, the kettel is hot.”

Michael Gove, the Shadow Children’s Minister, said: “The idea that 16-year-olds should be tested on how to spell “kettle” and the principle that this exam should be based on tick-box multiple choice tests undermine any claim to higher standards.

“Ministers need to get a grip if these exams are to be genuinely testing.”

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said that no decision had been made on the 50 per cent figure, and emphasised that the reforms were subject to pilot tests.

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