REVOLUTIONARY changes to secondary education exam systems in England have received a cautious welcome from headteachers.

The Tomlinson Report, published on Monday, recommended GCSEs, A-levels and vocational qualifications should evolve into a diploma system. The changes would provide more specialised work-related learning as well as core maths and English skills essential for the workplace.

Bernard Roberts, headteacher at Evesham's Prince Henry's High School, said: "We have all recognised in the last few years that we have not got it quite right. I don't think what is being proposed will come as a shock to anybody.

"I welcome the fact under the proposals it will be possible to give a more prominent position to vocational qualifications, because I think they have been undervalued generally in society. I give a cautious welcome to some sort of diploma at 16 - there's quite a lot of work to be done and if it is done too quickly it will do more harm than good."

Tim Moor-Bridger, headteacher at Stratford's King Edward VI school, said: "Anything that will address the failings of Curriculum 2000 will be a good thing because frankly what we've got at the moment is an excessive amount of assessments. Anything that addresses that problem must be an improvement."

The new system is also likely to involve far greater reliance on internal marking by teachers, and classroom teachers' unions are concerned about the extra workload. Mr Roberts added: "In moving away from a public exam-based system we have to be careful that we're not putting too much work on teachers."

Richard Graydon, Chipping Norton School headteacher, added: "There are a lot of problems with the current system, not least its cost. We need to have a proper debate and take on board the views of schools, students, parents, employers and universities."

The changes, if adopted by government, will be implemented over the next 10 years with a four-year pilot scheme to test the diploma. Changes to existing exams would be introduced in 2007.