Candidates' novel gambit

One of the report's recommendations said "the very simple rules for the use of the apostrophe should be learned and applied" and that "care should be taken with punctuation".

It said incorrect punctuation when using "however", "therefore" and "thus" was "all too frequent".

Assessors also found candidates sometimes confused a play with a novel, or used a short story as an example to answer a question on a novel.

The report said: "While this might be an accident induced by examination nerves, it is hard not to conclude that in most such cases candidates are under-prepared and are forced to desperate measures - not infrequently claiming that well-known short stories are, in fact, novels."

The overall Higher pass rate this year was 74.6 per cent, a slight rise on 2009.