TOUGHER A levels will be introduced next year to restore faith in England’s school qualifications.

Record numbers of A grades are expected this week when the results are made public but it will be the last time the students will sit the exams broken down into smaller modules.

Next year A levels will be cut from six modules to four, with a new A* grade for the top performers.

Kathleen Tattersall, chairman of the new exam regulator Ofqual, said it was vital to strengthen standards and to ensure exams stretch pupils to their full ability.

She said: “Assessment was based too much on the recall of factual knowledge and too little on thinking and problem solving. The new approach reduces the number of units to four in most subjects and the assessment includes a wider range of question types, including questions requiring extended answers.

“The students will be tested on a larger base of knowledge at any one time. More attention will be paid to synoptic assessments, testing the candidate’s ability to synthesise in formation from across the whole syllabus, in order to enable them to demonstrate more fully their knowledge and understanding.

“Next year the new A* grade will be introduced to provide an incentive for, and to recognise, the attainment of the highest achievers. In order to be awarded an A* students will have to achieve a grade A overall and 90 per cent or more.” Sixth formers will also have to complete a university-style dissertation as part of the new-look A levels.

The changes come as it emerges that a quarter of students are likely to gain an A-grade this week compared with less than a fifth of candidates before modular exams were introduced in 2000. The overall pass rate is likely to rise to 97.5 per cent.