Teenagers would be able to mix GCSEs, A levels, the new diploma and vocational courses under plans to transform examinations into a US-style high school system.

Ministers want to bring all qualifications for 14 to 19-year-olds within a new “credit-based” framework, in which pupils earn points for completing units in different subjects to arrive at an overall average grade, according to The Times Educational Supplement.

Proposals for the new system are outlined in a qualifications strategy published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which states that the reforms would give students greater flexibility.

But the document gives warning that care would be needed to ensure that the new structure did not compromise the integrity of traditional A levels and GCSEs, which are not currently credit based.

The Government believes that new secondary school diplomas, combining work-related practical learning with theory, could eventually replace GCSEs and A levels.

The first of the new diplomas will be taught to 40,000 teenagers in England from September.

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