Government plans to drive up the number of graduates were today criticised by the former chief inspector of schools who said that most people were not bright enough to go to university.

The Government wants 50 per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds to get a degree, but Chris Woodhead said that that number was too high.

Just 2 per cent of people went to university in the post-war years and Mr Woodhead said that the "cosmic" increase was unjustified.

He told BBC Radio's Today programme: "I don't think 50 per cent of people are actually able to study an academically demanding degree and to gain the intrinsic educational benefit that is the real purpose of university."

Mr Woodhead said that 30 per cent of people were already over-qualified for the jobs they did and he questioned claims that increasing the number of graduates would boost national prosperity.

He said that the country needed a skilled workforce, but a relatively small number of "superbly trained" and highly-able graduates rather than "a huge number of imperfectly trained ones".

The Government should recognise that people had different abilities and university was not right for everyone, he said.