And for those pursuing higher education at the end of year 13, many of Britain's top universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, will often take an applicant's GCSE grades into account before offering them a place.

Although the AQA says the papers are only being sent for marking one-word answers, the deal, under which 500,000 papers will be marked in India, has been strongly criticised by teachers and others.

"Britain's educational system used to be the envy of the world. Parents are going to be appalled when they read about this new initiative," said Nick Seaton of the Campaign for Real Education, a lobby group formed in 1987 by parents and teachers.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, described the deal as "a desperate way to hold up a sinking system".

Annis Garfield, a former examiner in classics and English literature, said: "I am speechless. Indian markers have no idea about our educational system, or what is expected from our children."

The education spokesman for the opposition Conservative Party, Tim Collins, added: "This will do nothing to reassure parents and teachers that our public exam system is sufficiently robust or stretching for pupils."

According a report published by the pro-Conservative Daily Express newspaper, early trials in India were fraught with problems as several thousand papers were returned late. A former employee of Data and Research Services, which handles the work for the exam board, said problems with French papers caused panic.

"If there are delays when we only send out a few thousand papers, what will happen in the summer when half a million go out there?" he asked.

A spokeswoman for AQA denied there were any delays.

--Indo-Asian News Service