New exam 'too easy' for teenagers

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The national level two qualification in ICT, which includes tasks such as sending an email and searching the internet, is set to be taught in half of England's secondary schools.

But a document leaked to the Times Educational Supplement showed 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, developed by the OCR exam board, is seen as a replacement for the controversial GNVQ course in ICT, which was also worth four A* to C grade GCSEs.

Schools widely used the GNVQ to help boost their exam results for league tables, despite criticism that it was an easier option than traditional GCSEs.

The first results from pupils taking the new qualification 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, which is not being sent to schools, stressing that it could not be a fair comparison because no results were yet available.