THE study of prose is among the topics to be cut from streamlined GCSEs being recommended by the north's exams board.
Content in double award science will also be slashed by one third with pupils studying fewer biology, chemistry and physics modules.
Coursework, practicals and group activities in labs will either be scaled back or removed in some subjects.
The changes to exams to be taken in 2021 are outlined in a consultation document from the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).
GCSE, AS-level, A-level and vocational papers were all cancelled this summer.
Efforts to `standardise' teacher-predicted grades, issued in the absence of papers, ended in chaos when thousands of pupils were downgraded, and later upgraded.
There have already been calls to cut down assessments in 2021 due to inconsistencies in remote education and learning time lost during lockdown.
Principals warned that schools faced a massive catch-up challenge when they return this month.
Unions have suggested streamlining the curriculum and even dropping some exams.
CCEA has now released detailed proposals and is seeking feedback.
Those studying for their A-levels will not be required to take AS-level assessments in 2021. It is already known that any AS-levels earned this year will not count towards the final A-level grade.
Most of the newly-published changes concern GCSEs.
It has been recommended that in the majority of subjects, one `unit' will be omitted from assessment to reduce the burden on students. The proposed total omissions to any GCSE qualification will not exceed 40 per cent of the subject.
Young people would still be assessed in all units of the qualifications in the core subjects of English language and mathematics.
The consultation document lists units that are the "defined option for omission" for other GCSE subjects.
In double award science, 33 per cent of units will be cut - one in each of the three main areas of study.
The unit to be lost in English literature is prose, usually worth 30 per cent of the overall qualification. Poetry and the study of Shakespeare is to be retained.
CCEA said it wanted to hear from school leaders, teachers, parents and students about their preferred approaches for the year ahead.
It will then further refine and develop proposals based on feedback.
The board said it realised there would be a need to be flexible and that arrangements may need to evolve and change as the academic year continues.
"The arrangements proposed in this consultation are based on the current public health scenario, which at this time allows for a full-time return to school and exams to proceed as planned in 2020/21," CCEA said.
"We are conscious, however, that the public health situation is extremely fluid and that circumstances may arise which cause further disruption. There is further work being taken forward to consider contingency arrangements to deal with a range of potential public health scenarios, including local lockdowns."
The consultation will run for two weeks.
