Kill off GCSEs or new diplomas are doomed, ministers are told

Middle-class families will continue to favour traditional courses as long as continental style diplomas are forced to compete with them, a review concludes.

It calls on Schools Secretary Ed Balls to tell parents that A-levels and GCSEs will be absorbed into diploma qualifications when they are phased in from September.

Originally, the 14 diplomas were only meant to cover vocational studies. But in a dramatic U-turn last month, ministers revealed the qualifications would also include science, languages and the humanities.

Yesterday Mr Balls said the diplomas - which are similar to the French Baccalaureate - would become the "qualification of choice" and that parents and pupils would be able to choose which one to study by "voting with their feet".

But he refused to guarantee the future of A-levels and GCSEs after 2013.

Under the scheme, foundation and higher diplomas will be equivalent to six or seven GCSEs while advanced diplomas will be worth three A-levels.

As well as reaching minimum standards in English and maths, pupils would be required to complete an extended project.

They would also be able to mix and match units from diplomas. A student taking a higher humanities diploma might borrow a French unit from the languages diploma.

But a panel of academics, including experts from Oxford and London's Institute of Education, claim the diplomas are "doomed to fail" unless Ministers move now to replace A-levels and GCSEs.

The report, from the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education, says 90 per cent of teachers think diplomas will not appeal to middle-class pupils.

It added: "History suggests that the retention of GCSEs and A-levels, which have historically been accepted as the most prestigious route of study for 14 to 19-year-olds, may mean that the most able learners (and their parents) will continue to opt for these qualifications."

Mr Balls' decision to leave a review into the future of A-levels until 2013 would further undermine the fledgling diplomas, it adds.

The report says: "As long as Alevels remain discrete qualifications, it is difficult to see the diplomas becoming the qualification of choice."

Dr Ken Spours, from London's Institute of Education, said: "As long as A-levels remain unreformed, diplomas will end up being regarded as a poor relation."