A GCSE question asking students to identify Mary and Joseph in the Christmas stable scene has prompted fresh questions about the standards of the exams.
The question, given to sixteen-year-old students sitting a religious studies exam last week, showed a picture of a man and a woman standing beside a crib surrounded by farm animals.
The paper asked students to 'name the two people in the crib scene.'
They then had to 'explain briefly why Christmas is an important festival for Christians,' according to the Sunday Times.
Critics labelled the question 'pathetic' and said it was better suited to six-year-old as opposed to sixteen-year-olds.
Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: 'It is a pathetically easy question for a GCSE exam, it would be more suitable for primary school age children. Simple facts like this should be general knowledge, they should not be part of a GCSE exam for 16-year-olds.'
'This business of trying to teach all the major religions without emphasising Christianity, which is part of the culture, just means that serious knowledge of the subject has been completely lost.,' he told the Sunday Times.
A spokeswoman for AQA, the examinations board which set the paper, said: 'Papers are written to include questions that accommodate varying levels of ability. This question is worth two marks out of 83 and is part of a series of questions that increase in difficulty.
The subsequent, more open-ended questions require longer and more complex answers and are worth more points.
'For example, in the same section, students are asked, ‘For Christians, celebrating festivals is the most important part of their religion — Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing that you have thought about more than one point of view’.
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Uk religion exams, tough stuff!
Uk religion exams, tough stuff!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”