News

The move will be the biggest reform of the examination system for school-leavers in a generation and will be unveiled on Tuesday (18th September).

The plans include getting rid of modular assessment, reintroducing the traditional three-hour exam at the end of two years of study and limiting the number of top grades that are awarded.

The new system would be introduced from September 2015, with the first of the new-style exams taking place in 2017.

There has also been speculation that in the future there would only be one exam board provider per subject after Gove said last week that competition had had "malign effects".

The Department for Education would only say that an announcement would be made shortly.

The reforms have placed a major strain on coalition relations after Gove's plans to bring back O-levels were leaked in June before they had even been broached with Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

After extensive discussions about the proposals, however, the Lib Dem leader is expected to join Gove in a show of unity at the launch of a consultation on the reforms on Tuesday