Tories: Govt must not let generation down

A "whole generation of children" will be "let down" if the government does not get its flagship diploma scheme right, the Conservatives have warned.

Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb said exam board head Jerry Jarvis' doubts about the success of the new qualification, which are to be introduced from this September, were "very worrying".

"We want the new vocational diplomas to work so that there is a high-quality alternative for those children that don't want to study academic qualifications," he said.

"But if [schools secretary] Ed Balls does not get these reforms right, a whole generation of children will be let down, with the poorest likely to suffer most, and ministers will only have themselves to blame."