The regulator for exams in England says it is “closely monitoring” the marking of an A‑level maths paper after a petition calling for it to be reviewed was launched on the same day students sat it.

The online petition, which has now received 23,000 signatures, demands a “fair review” of Pearson Edexcel’s A-level maths paper 1, which it describes as “unusually difficult and time-pressured”.

Students, schools and teachers have shared “widespread concern” that the paper represented a “significant increase in difficulty compared with previous years” and, “in some respects, exceeded what many candidates reasonably anticipated”, the petition claims.

Objections over A-level maths paper

Ofqual said it was aware of concerns and that it would be “closely monitoring” Pearson’s approach to marking the exam.

“Our priority is students, and ensuring their grades are a reliable indication of what they know, understand and can do,” the watchdog told the Press Association.

Despite the petition, not all teachers agreed that the paper represented a “significant increase” in difficulty, with Brett Williams-Yale, a maths teacher at Michaela Community School in London, telling Tes the assessment was “hard, but a good paper”.

Mr Williams-Yale said: “There were some difficult moments in the exam, but overall it was fair. There were plenty of opportunities for students to show what they had learned, as well as questions that stretched the most able. It was a good paper - perhaps a little harder than usual, but not one that should warrant the level of national outrage we’ve seen.”

However, the petition states that YouTube teacher Mr Bicen polled A-level students on their experience of the paper, and more than half of the respondents said it was “worse than expected” or “bad/awful”.

Exam board defends paper

Caroline Darrington, a spokesperson for Pearson, said: “Every paper is developed with input from experienced senior examiners and rigorously checked to ensure it reflects the course and meets required standards.

“If a paper is found to be more difficult than previous years, grade boundaries will be set to reflect that. When setting grade boundaries, we review a range of evidence, including statistical data and expert judgement.”

Ms Darrington said the process ensures that students receive grades that “fairly reflect their performance”.

The call for a review follows another petition to Ofqual this year, demanding a re-mark of one of Cambridge OCR’s GCSE maths papers after the watchdog upheld a complaint against the exam board.

Among those calling for a re-mark was shadow education secretary Laura Trott, who said the regulator’s lack of “corrective action” risked undermining public confidence in the fairness of qualifications.