Cameron pledges return to 'proper' A-levels

A Tory government would get rid of AS levels, meaning youngsters would not be forced to sit any A-level exams until their final year of school.

The party is also calling for youngsters who fail maths and reading tests to repeat the final year of primary school.

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Policy chiefs say the plans would ensure younger pupils get a basic grasp of the Three Rs and would allow older students more freedom to follow their own interests instead of a rigid curriculum.

The Tories also want heads to have more powers to expel unruly pupils and they would give schools extra money if they took children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The proposals come in a major policy review commissioned by David Cameron and chaired by former Cabinet Minister Stephen Dorrell.

It is part of the leader's effort to appeal to his grassroots with a tougher stance on traditional party issues.

The call for a return to traditional A-levels comes amid mounting concern that exams have been 'dumbed down'.

At the moment, sixth-formers are expected to study up to five subjects at AS-level in their first year, before focusing on three subjects at A2 in their second year.

The Tory review group warned: "The sixth form experience of many young people is now dominated from year one by the examination system.

"Teachers tell us that the opportunity to explore young people's curiosity and enthusiasm in pursuit of academic byways has been almost totally removed."

The report also recommends more youngsters are taught in classes according to their abilities. At the moment, only 43 per cent of lessons, excluding PE, are taught in sets.

The group added: "Setting in maths, or language, music, art or technology and science, would go a long way to enable teachers to give specialised help and stimulus not only to the gifted but also to those who, however gifted in one area, struggle in others.

"We recommend schools should set by ability unless they can demonstrate that they can achieve higher standards using mixedability teaching."

Schools Secretary Ed Balls yesterday admitted Labour's progress on improving education appeared to have tailed off over the past year.

Mr Balls is writing to heads asking them to redouble efforts to enforce discipline and ensure children get basic skills. He said: "We must give a world-class education to every child in this country."

The focus on education is the latest part of the Tory fightback after traditionalists spent the summer expressing open dissatisfaction with Mr Cameron's leadership.

The party has consistently lagged behind Labour in the polls.

Mr Cameron's pronouncements on law and order - insisting Britain was a 'broken' society - are widely thought to have touched a nerve in the wake of a series of high-profile stabbings and shootings.

But Schools Minister Jim Knight attacked the Tory proposals, saying: "Instead of impractical gimmicks that haven't been thought through, we need policy that works."

Labour has turned schools into 'exam factories' which churn out pupils with little to show for 11 years of education, a teachers' union leader said yesterday.

Julia Neal, incoming president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, warned that creativity in the classroom had been stifled by Whitehall control.

She called for an overhaul of the national curriculum, saying: "I believe schools should provide supportive and secure environments for pupils to reach their full potential.

"They should not be exam factories which churn out some pupils with handfuls of paper qualifications but few usable skills."