Ofqual has asked all exam boards to rewrite parts of their new maths GCSE exams because they are not up to scratch.

The regulator concluded in its assessment of four exam boards, that three had produced papers that were too difficult for the level they were testing, while the other was too easy.

OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC Eduqas have been ordered to produce more realistic exams, while AQA has been told to make their offering more challenging.

“Our research has provided further confidence that the new GCSE maths papers will be of greater challenge than the current papers,” Glenys Stacey, Ofqual’s chief regulator said.

“And as a result of the actions the exam boards have agreed to take following our research, we are additionally assured that the boards’ exam papers will be more comparable in difficulty in 2017 and equally suitable for students as are now.”

Ms Stacey continued by saying that the decisions for this were made thanks to an “unprecedented amount of analysis”.

She was keen to highlight that this does not represent starting from scratch again. It will take a few days to remedy. Ms Stacey added: “It's making sure standards are right in a sufficient and even-handed way."

The exam boards had created tougher maths exams in response to the coalition government’s desire to boost what it saw was the standard of this core subject.

“As the new GCSE qualifications are introduced into schools for teaching, we will continue to work with the regulator and other exam boards to ensure a fair system for learners and clear information for teachers,” Pearson chief executive Rod Bristow told the BBC.