Thousands of 'dead end' courses axed from school tables - Telegraph.co.uk

The change will be made to the 2014 school performance tables.

Speaking before the announcement, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said: "The changes we are making will take time but will transform the lives of young people.

"For too long the system has been devalued by attempts to pretend that all qualifications are intrinsically the same. Young people have taken courses that have led nowhere."

Prof Wolf added: "Pretending that all vocational qualifications are equally valuable does not bring them respect. On the contrary, it devalues vocational education in people's eyes."

According to the Government, qualifications will only remain in league tables if they have rigorous external assessment, offer pupils a proper progression onto a broad range of sixth-form courses and have good take-up among teenagers.

Many courses no longer counted will include several that are worth the same as four GCSEs, including a Level 2 Diploma in horse care. A Level 2 Certificate in hair services – worth three GCSEs – will also be cut.

Hundreds of qualifications worth two GCSEs will be removed from the tables including an NVQ Certificate in customer service, a BTEC in fish husbandry, a Level 1 Certificate in practical office skills and a Level 2 Certificate in nail technology services.

Some of the qualifications included in the 2014 performance data will be subjected to a further review after 12 months, the Government said.

The latest disclosure comes just days after the publication of school-by-school data for more than 3,300 state secondaries in England.

The figures showed that just 56 per cent of pupils in state comprehensives gained five A* to C grade GCSEs in any subject – the basic measurement of a good education.

But the proportion rocketed to more than 80 per cent when results in "equivalent" qualifications were added.

The increase recorded in 2011 was considerably more dramatic than rises shown in 2009 and 2010, it was revealed.

This suggests that growing numbers of schools are "playing the system" to boost results and beat rules that threaten state secondaries with closure or merger for failing to hit basic floor targets.

But Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "It should not be up to the Government to decide which exams are of more merit than others. This is something which should be assessed by major stakeholders such as the teaching profession and awarding bodies.

"Vocational education has often suffered from being viewed unfavourably. These reforms are likely to exacerbate the vocational/academic divide.

"At times of recession, access to vocational education and apprenticeship opportunities must not be restricted. This is the time when young people need these opportunities the most."