Middle classes are 'whipping boys of Labour's dumbed-down education'

Peter Morris accused the Government of trying to rig admissions against those whose parents have degrees or wellpaid jobs.

The political interference in university selection is, he claimed, crude social engineering.

"How can any academic institution make selection of candidates for university courses based on the perceived social class of the parents?" he asked.

"What possible relevance is my degree to my son's education? When exams no longer provide a way to distinguish, there has to be a tie-breaker. But clearly that should not be based on social class.

"This political interfering with university applications clearly is designed to reduce the chances of hard-working applicants in getting university places.

"The middle classes are becoming the new whipping boys for Labour."

Mr Morris, a senior official in the Professional Association of Teachers, issued his warning at the union's annual conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Delegates overwhelmingly backed his motion calling on the Government to "stop interfering in educational life chances for our young people with attempts at social engineering".

Nardia Foster, a psychology teacher from Enfield, North London, told the conference: "The rich can afford to study and the poor are supported - sort of - while Middle England pays.

But who are these Middle Englanders?

"Any poor who achieve a degree will now have their family penalised. A mockery of our education system has been made for the whole world to see."

Changes to university application forms mean applicants will soon be asked whether their parents have degrees. There are also moves to tell universities what jobs their parents do.

The idea is to alert admissions tutors to 'first-time buyers' who may be nervous about higher education because there is no family tradition of it.

Mr Morris, who taught business studies and computing at secondary schools in Swansea, said exams had been 'dumbed down' to help more children get good grades.

A-level questions are now "touchyfeely" - whereas once they demanded academic rigour.

He accused universities of offering 'vacuous' non-academic courses - backed by a Government drive to push 50 per cent of young people through university.

"We have seen an increase in the number of non-academic degree courses such as surfing, beauty therapy, knitwear, circus skills, pig enterprise management, death studies, air guitar, David Beckham studies and wine studies," he added.

Yet at the same time, science departments have had to be shut down in Exeter and Swansea.

The claims of social engineering were rejected by Children's Minister Kevin Brennan

He said: "We make no apologies for helping to lift children out of poverty and giving them more chances to succeed and prosper in life.

"It's just wrong to use myth and conjecture to claim that standards have fallen.

"The testing and assessment system has remained basically unchanged since its introduction in the 1990s and independent experts make sure that the standards of all exams including GCSEs and A-levels are maintained over time."

Universities were accused last week of offering "scandalously unacademic" courses such as complementary medicine to boost their funding.

Increasing numbers are flocking to these courses while tough scientific disciplines are suffering, dons said.

C omplementary medicine has drawn 31.5 per cent more applicants, receiving more than 1,900 so far this year.

By contrast, applications to study anatomy, physiology and pathology have fallen 19 per cent, figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service show.

David Colquhoun, a leading pharmacologist, accused universities of "cashing in" on the softer subjects which are thought to be cheaper to run.

The professor at University College London also said there is no evidence that complementary medicine works.