Over time we will get a wider choice of questions, but with some of the texts there's only a finite number of questions

Edexcel spokeswoman

Edexcel's AS-level in Religious Studies included questions students might already have tackled on the specimen papers.

Edexcel told BBC News Online there were only so many ways to ask questions in an exam.

It also said there was no evidence that students might have benefited from having seen some of the questions.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has said that it is not made privy to the content of exam papers before they are presented to candidates - and that it is not its role to scrutinise individual questions.

Examiner's report

The AS-level was new this summer. So there were no previous exam papers for students to practise on, only the specimen papers the exam board published for each of the five units in the syllabus - or "specification" as these are now called.

In Edexcel's Philosophy of Religion paper, taken by 3,207 candidates, question 1 was:

(a) What are the key features of the design argument for the existence of God?
(b) Identify the strengths of this argument. To what extent are these strengths more convincing than its weaknesses?

In the specimen paper, question 2 had been:

(a) Examine the design argument for the existence of God.
(b) What are the strengths of the design argument? Comment on some of the criticisms raised against the design argument.

A report on the examinations by Edexcel's principal examiner said part (a) was "more competently answered" than part (b).

Identical wording

In the New Testament paper, which 2,375 students sat, question 1 on the Gospel According to Luke section was:

(a) Identify and examine the evidence concerning the authorship and date of Luke's Gospel.
(b) How far is an accurate knowledge of the authorship and date necessary for an understanding of Luke's Gospel?

In the specimen paper, the first question had been in three parts. Part (a) had been identical to the later exam paper. Part (b) was about scholars' views on the date. Part (c) was almost identical to (b) in the actual exam.

The examiner's report said this had been "a popular question" - although part (a) was generally answered better than (b).

The principal examiner's report said "one aspect of particular concern" about the New Testament paper was "the high number of candidates who came with 'pre-prepared' answers."

Concerns

At several examination centres - schools and colleges - every candidate had answered the same two questions in much the same way - although they did not necessarily do very well.

A spokesman for the QCA confirmed that several schools had expressed concern to it about Edexcel's Religious Studies exam papers.

"We are currently pursuing these concerns with the board," a spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for Edexcel said that the New Testament unit had been most similar to the specimen paper but also got the worst results - 17% Grade As.

She said that out of the 75 questions in the AS-level, about a dozen had had "similar wording" but with a different "emphasis" - asking students for different answers to any they might have prepared.

Seven had "very similar wording but very different angles".

Learning process

"We have had a complaint from one centre saying that the specimen papers were very different from the real papers," she said.

"But it was the first exam paper for a new qualification. Over time we will get a wider choice of questions, but with some of the texts there's only a finite number of questions.

"There are only a certain number of ways you can ask people to do things."

The introduction of the AS-levels had been "a learning curve" for schools and exam boards, she said.

'No surprise'

Nationally, 10,796 Religious Studies AS-level papers were taken this summer, of which Edexcel accounted for 7,830.

Philosophy of Religion and the New Testament were the most popular parts of the specification.

Dr Loveday Alexander, one of the admissions tutors at Sheffield University's highly prestigious Department of Biblical Studies, said it was not surprising that there might have been some cross-over between specimen papers and real papers in the first year of a new course.

"All schools and exam boards build up stocks of sample questions, and over two or three years you have a bigger stock to choose from," she said.

"The students didn't know they were going to be asked those questions."