Qualification that 'an 11-year-old could pass' is worth four GCSEs in school league tables

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The new course - a national level two qualification in ICT developed by the OCR exam board - has been judged equivalent to four GCSEs.

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Pupils will face a new ICT exam which Government consultants say any average 11-year-old could pass

It is intended to replace the controversial GNVQ course in ICT, which was also worth four A to C grade GCSEs.

That was widely used by schools to boost exam results in league tables, despite criticism that it was an easier option than traditional GCSEs.

The new course includes tasks such as sending an email and searching the internet.

A document leaked to the Times Educational Supplement showed that Government consultants rated a pass in its compulsory unit as "generally" equal to the level of achievement expected of 11-year-olds.

Some aspects of the qualification reached the standards expected of a 14-year-old, according to the analysis prepared by consultants from the Government's National Strategies, the TES reported.

The qualification will be taught in half of England's secondary schools and the first results are expected next year.

A spokesman for OCR said the Government's exams watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, had signed-off the new course.

The spokesman dismissed the leaked analysis, stressing that it could not be a fair comparison because no results were yet available.

"I'm not surprised it is not being distributed to schools because it is rubbish," he said.

"It cannot be a genuine comparability study because it contains no results data.

"These people need to get out more and go into classrooms."

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said it was not possible to comment on the analysis because it had not seen the details.

A QCA spokeswoman said: "We are currently monitoring this particular qualification as part of our regular programme of work."