It seems that the government are adamant on introducing the new diplomas to replace GCSEs and A-levels, but will they be the most effective way to better our education system?

The current structure of secondary school education has been criticised in the past for not offering pupils enough variety, and it is hoped that the new Diploma will in some way combat this.

Schools Minister Jim Knight accepted the QCA's recommendation that the new Diplomas should be judged equivalent to 5 GCSEs grade A*-G at the foundation level, 7 GCSEs grade A*-C at the higher level and 3.5 A Levels grade A*- E at the advanced level in the achievement and attainment tables.

Schools and colleges teaching Diplomas to 14-16 year olds will get around £1000 extra per student as an incentive to bring in the new form of qualification.

£45 million will be spent in teacher training to support the roll out of Diplomas in 2008/09. If they do not appear to work, this could easily result in £45 million wasted.

Five Diploma lines will be available from September 2008, and it is hoped they will be taught to around 40,000 pupils in England. These courses include: Society, health & development; IT; Construction & the built environment; Creative media; and Engineering.

Five more Diploma lines will be available from September 2009, which include: Business, administration and finance; Hair & beauty; Hospitality; Environmental & land based studies; and Manufacturing & product design.

17 Diplomas, including three new Diplomas announced earlier this year in Science, Languages and Humanities, will be offered with the aspiration that the Diploma becomes the 'qualification of choice' for young people in future.

It is clear that the government are trying to unleash a new set of subjects which are more vocational, which many would see as a positive approach to preparing young people for the careers that they might embark on after their studies.

Schools Minister Jim Knight said: "Diplomas are the first qualification to be developed with such a high level of input from employers and universities. Pupils can now be confident they will study valuable, first class qualifications when they take a Diploma, and universities and colleges can be assured of their quality."

According to Knight, Diplomas have already won the backing of top universities including Manchester, Leeds and Warwick, and he has called on independent schools to lend their expertise.

It remains to be seen whether independent schools will follow the state system roll-out of Diplomas.

Bill Rammell, Minister for Higher Education said: "The Diplomas are an exciting new set of qualifications that will help more young people make the most of their talents and potential, both in work and in higher education."

"Higher education institutions have, and will continue to take an active involvement in developing these Diplomas so we can ensure they provide sound preparation for entry to higher education including for the most demanding university courses."

The last major shake-up for pupils coming towards the end of their secondary education was the introduction of AS-levels. The idea was to increase the range of subjects studies at a higher level, but many pupils see them as an unnecessary addition: universities rarely ask for anything more than three A-levels, while employers do not seem to take them into consideration at all.

The Government will review all secondary school qualifications in 2013.

The article Shaking up the System originally appeared on 999 Today