The door to fewer compulsory exams was opened by School Standards Minister David Miliband yesterday as he acknowledged that sixth formers faced "a lot of testing".

Pupils in England take exams at seven, 11, 14, 16, 17 and 18 and the Government has faced growing calls to scrap some of the tests in order to ease pressure on the system and make school more fun. Mr Miliband said ministers were committed to making the existing system work after last year's A-levels debacle.

But he added: "For the longer term there is an exciting prospect of significant change."

He ruled out scrapping GCSEs, saying they would remain an "important progress check" at the midpoint of 14 to 19 education.