Sixteen-year-olds will be able to make their own applications for sixth-form study without first having to get the approval of their parents, under a new school admissions code.

The measure was a last minute change, added by ministers in an attempt to encourage young people to take a greater interest in their own education and to counterbalance parental bias towards academic qualifications at the expense of more vocational training.

"This is a statement we are making. We are saying, you are 16, your destiny should be in your own hands,” a spokesman said.

He added that the new right for 16-year-olds to make their own sixth-form applications fitted in line with new legislation extending the education leaving age to 18.

The new rule applies only to schools, and not colleges, but it could potentially open up many new avenues to 16-year-olds.

Schools now offer more options after GCSE than ever before. These include diplomas and a range of other practical and academic qualifications in addition to A level. But parents are often less aware of these and therefore less able to judge the best course of action for their child.

Ministers are particularly concerned that some parents are tempted to encourage their teenage children down the academic route, even where this may not best suit their needs and abilities, simply because they regard it as the safest bet and it is what they know.

“There are so many options available now, the onus should be on the child to decide,” the spokesman said.

The new code is being introduced to stop backdoor selection and introduce greater fairness and transparency in the highly fraught school admissions process.

It builds on a previous version of the code introduced last year that banned covert forms of selection, such as interviews or requirements for expensive school uniforms.

Ministers were forced to tighten up measures again after it was found that some faith schools were still asking for sensitive information, such as parental occupation, and a tiny number were shown to be asking for voluntary contributions at the point of application.

The new code explicitly bans requests for cash donations and says that schools can only request to see short-form birth certificates as proof of age as these do not contain details of parental occupation.

In a move to mollify faith schools, the government has changed the code to allow schools to ask parents to sign up to the school “ethos” when they apply for a place.

Schools will not, however, be allowed to use a parent’s failure to sign up to the ethos as a reason to withhold a place.

Popular state schools will have to take on extra pupils in response to demand from parents, under the new code.

The admissions watchdog will be ordered to approve plans for successful schools to expand, even if less popular comprehensives nearby have spare places.

This aims to ease parental dissatisfaction over lack of school choice. Official figures show that nearly a fifth of children did not gain a place at their first-choice secondary school for the term starting in September.

The code also contains a new duty on schools and councils to engage with parents and the community when setting admissions policies.

Priority for places at state boarding schools will go to children of armed forces personnel.

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