PLANS to ditch GCSEs in favour of a new exam have received a mixed reaction from Petersfield's headteachers.

The biggest shake-up for years will see new English Baccalaureate Certificates – similar to European-style Baccalaureates exams – introduced for 16 year olds.

If adopted, it will do away with course work and an assessment scheme for English, maths and other core subjects to concentrate instead on single, three-hour exams in each subject.

With schools in Petersfield and the surrounding area celebrating some of their best-ever GCSE results this summer, headteachers were sceptical and had major concerns over the Secretary of State for Education's new scheme.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.