University professors will be given a role in setting A-level and GSCE exam papers under Conservative plans to improve school standards.

Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, wants to turn back the clock to before the 1990s, when exam boards were dominated by academics from top universities.

His pledge comes amid criticism of this year’s GCSE papers, which many perceived as being too easy.

One biology paper asked 16-year-old pupils to “give one example of an illegal recreational drug” while a maths exam gave marks for writing the number 4,117 in words and working out 50% of £60.

The latest dumbing-down row comes after Ofqual, the government’s exam watchdog, recently warned Ed Balls, the schools secretary, that science GCSEs lacked rigour.

Balls rejects claims of falling standards, but the evidence from this year’s papers are proof to critics that exams are not stretching pupils enough.

Many fee-paying schools have ditched the government-sanctioned GCSE system in favour of the international GCSE exam, which is based on the old O-level standard.

In the past, most exam boards had strong links to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. Now most papers are set by private companies working to Whitehall education guidelines.

Gove said: “The government has devalued our curriculum and exams. It is vital that we restore the influence of universities over our curriculum and exams so we can rebuild their reputation.”

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