One of Oxford's top pupils took on exam critics to sit an O-Level paper from 1987.

When the Oxford Mail threw down the gauntlet, Magdalen College School student Philip Davies agreed to defend the honour of his generation and sit the 1987 maths paper.

And he scored 95 per cent - virtually the same mark he got in his GCSE.

Straight As student Philip, 16, said: "They weren't any more challenging than each other."

He said there were contextual differences between the papers, with more questions about imperial to metric conversions in the 1987 O-Level.

He said: "The background to the questions has changed but the maths behind it is much of a muchness. I wouldn't be uncomfortable sitting either paper."

He added the charge that exams were getting easier did not bother him.

He added: "If results were getting worse, everyone would be up in arms about the education system.

"If it stays the same, they would say things are not improving. You cannot win. Whatever happens, someone will complain."

School headmaster Andrew Halls said pupils were working harder and taking more subjects than ever before, but added: "There are too many A and A*s at GCSE nowadays. I feel it has become a little debased. It isn't as discriminatory as it ought to be.

"Worst of all, it is becoming quite a boring exam for the brighter children, and maybe for less bright children. The actual syllabuses themselves are quite dreary. They are quite thin and weak."

He said many independent schools were turning to the International GCSE (IGCSE) in a bid to inspire gifted students.

Mr Halls said: "It's based on a thorough and interesting syllabuses that are fully exam-based."

But he added good teachers could still make a difference. "Even with bad syllabuses, a good teacher can make it worthwhile.

"If you teach it well and go beyond the syllabus, then the kids will go with you."

Oxford National Union of Teachers representative Brenda Williams said: "I've been teaching for 35 years and I don't think children these days have it any easier. The pressures on them are far, far greater."

The IGCSE was developed in the late 1980s and is currently offered by two exam boards in around 60 different subjects.

It is recognised by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service as equivalent to a GCSE and is taken in more than 120 countries including the UK.

At present, the Government does not fund IGCSEs in state schools.

The IGCSE aims to offer a broader, exam-based syllabus, and Mr Halls said it was deemed to be slightly harder than a GCSE.