Ministers have scaled back plans to teach teenagers essential life skills, despite warnings from employers that too many school-leavers are poorly prepared for work.

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, halted moves to include “personal, learning and thinking skills” within all GCSE and A-level courses.

The CBI has said that many youngsters are not equipped for working life and has called on schools to teach teenagers vital social skills. Ministers wanted the skills — including communication, personal presentation, creative thinking, teamwork and reliability — to be part of the school curriculum for pupils aged 14 to 19.

But after receiving advice from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Mr Knight said that he did not want to force those skills to sit “unnaturally” within GCSEs.

The minister wrote to the authority: “A levels and GCSEs, by their nature, test deep subject knowledge rather than naturally assess these skills... Given the other changes in train at A level and GCSE, I would not want to make further changes to embed these skills unnaturally in qualifications.”

The original plan for teaching children such skills appeared in a White Paper last year that emphasised that young people need “a range of learning and social skills”. The paper said: “Success in further and higher education and in employment depends on the ability to adapt to new or changing circumstances. Independent learning skills are essential for study at university level.”

A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said: “It was decided that personal learning and thinking skills would not be suitable for GCSEs.”

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