The Board of Deputies has averted a change to biblical Hebrew GCSE which would have posed problems for some Orthodox schools.

One type of question proposed in a revised syllabus would have asked students to comment on the linguistic choices of “the author” of the Torah, treating it as any other literary text rather than the word of God. 

This could have created “considerable theological problems for many Orthodox schools”, the Board said, leading them to consider dropping the exam.

Another potentially problematic question would have been to compare biblical battle scenes with modern warfare.

Instead, students will be asked to draw comparisons between set biblical passages rather than with modern texts.

A Board spokesman said, “We have been working to achieve this result and are very pleased to have secured this change that will retain Biblical Hebrew as an attractive proposition.”