LONDON (Reuters) - The school leaving age will be effectively increased from 16 to 18 under a package of reforms to be unveiled today, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has revealed.

The overhaul of secondary education on Wednesday will include reforms designed to enable more state school pupils to get into Oxford and Cambridge.

The Government has planned a move from comprehensive schools to a "comprehensive education" in specialist schools, colleges and on-the-job training.

Kelly told London's Evening Standard newspaper that she wanted to reclaim the word comprehensive. "It's about using a network of schools, colleges and employers to provide a more rounded education," she said.

Under the proposed reforms, A-levels and GCSEs will be abolished, but a new A++ grade will be introduced to challenge the brightest pupils, who will be allowed to sit exams early. Selection by ability to state schools will not be reintroduced.

All 16-year-olds will be entitled to a place in sixth form or to access to training or an apprenticeship. Those who choose to spend more time with employers will still face numeracy and literacy tests. Sanctions against parents who prove disruptive will be introduced.

The plans are the Government's response to former chief schools inspector Sir Mike Tomlinson's review of schools, in which he argued for the abolition of the current examination system and the introduction of a European-style baccalaureate.

Kelly said Britain was 24th out of 28 industrialised countries for its staying-on rate, with 71 percent of students choosing further education, and that this was "unacceptable".

She criticised the "poverty of expectation" in state schools, and said: "We need to make sure every child feels if they have the ability and put in the work then they have routes which will get them into Oxford and Cambridge."

They should be lowering the school leaving age. Many kids learn nothing after the age of thirteen. They could do simple tasks like sweeping the roads or designing websites.

Miss Nonsense is becoming bored. Has no one a friend whose knickers were taken down by a school mistress, or an aunt, before the War?