Irrespective of the structure of a school, the context it works in or its ability to meet the needs of the pupils within it does not change.

That is according to Christine Blower, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, who has claimed that academies, like other schools, stretch rules to the limit to achieve the best possible performance in league tables.

"As with other schools," she explained, "academies have inevitably had to play the league tables game, so it has come as no surprise to see that many do not meet Michael Gove's own rigid definition of a successful school."

She has, therefore, called on Mr Gove, the education secretary, to "sit down with the profession and engage in a serous dialogue about what schools need to provide the best possible education for all children".

At present, vocational qualifications like horse care and catering are afforded the same number of GCSE credits as more traditional subjects like history and geography.