THOUSANDS of GCSE examination papers are to be recalled after a North-East school raised concerns that teenagers were being asked to research a photograph depicting child abuse.

Pat Armstrong, headteacher of Branksome School, in Darlington, contacted exam board AQA last week after children were asked to research photographs by controversial Australian artist Tracey Moffatt, including one called Heart Attack, which portrays a naked man reaching out for a child by a bed.

The exam board is expected to write to schools around the country outlining plans to reissue the GCSE art and design paper.

A number of complaints are believed to have surfaced following Ms Armstrong's initial complaint last Tuesday.

On Monday, the controlled test paper was sent to Branksome for a 30-strong GCSE group of 15 and 16-year-olds. Art and design teacher Rachael Dickinson took it to the headteacher, who contacted AQA to express the school's concerns.

Last night, Ms Armstrong told The Northern Echo: "Students can be exposed to these sort of images if they research it themselves, but we felt it inappropriate for us, as teachers, to be directing pupils towards that sort of thing."

The test required students to research the artist's work which, said Ms Armstrong, featured several pieces that caused concern, including one the school felt depicted physical abuse of a child, as well as Heart Attack, part of the permanent collection at the Tate Modern.

She was assured her pupils would not be at a disadvantage if they were not given that part of the paper. But now, after a number of complaints from across the country, the exam board has decided to withdraw the controversial section of the paper.

The headteacher won backing from John Curry, chair of governors at the 680-pupil school.

He said: "The photograph could be considered reasonable in different circumstances, but if a pupil has suffered abuse themselves then, in the middle of an examination, bad memories are going to be brought back and it is very unfair."

Margaret Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said: "It is horrific, and I think it is completely unnecessary. We should not be trying to shock young people."

But Tim Marlow, director of exhibitions at London's White Cube gallery, said: "I think Tracey Moffatt is a tough, uncompromising artist and I salute them for having her on there. Why are they back-tracking on it now? It seems to me gutless."

Tracey Moffatt, whose works are displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Sydney, and the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, said the image did not represent paedophilia, but was based on a true story in which a man hit a child then died of a heart attack. She said: "It is a shocking and powerful image. I half understand why it is being withdrawn."

A spokesman for AQA said that, while it was felt the image was still valid, it was being withdrawn because of the potential impact on students who had been victims of abuse.

The spokesman added: "If you want to use contemporary artists you have to accept that some could be shocking, and we want to stimulate students and challenge them."