Nick Clegg vows to block Michael Gove's plan to ditch GCSEs Education secretary Michael Gove faces opposition to his plan to create an examination system based on O-levels and CSEs. Controversial plans by the education secretary, Michael Gove, to start scrapping GCSE exams before the next general election in favour of a two-tier system modelled on O-levels and CSEs, are expected to be shelved after a furious backlash from Nick Clegg. Downing Street, which strongly supports the reforms as "red-hot" Tory policy, is understood to believe that the Gove blueprint and timetable are too ambitious, because they will be vetoed by the Liberal Democrats. In a sign of growing divisions among the coalition partners, the deputy prime minister interrupted his attendance at the Rio+20 summit to authorise a briefing by party officials criticising the plans and denouncing Gove. Clegg said: "I'm not in favour of anything that would lead to a two-tier system where children at quite a young age are somehow cast on a scrapheap. What you want is an exam system which is fit for the future [and] doesn't turn the clock back to the past and rewards hard work and effort for the many, many children in our school system who work hard and want to get ahead so it works for the many and not just for some and not just for the few. Clegg spoke out after the Daily Mail reported that pupils across England would sit GCSEs for the last time in English, maths, physics, chemistry and biology in 2015. The last GCSE courses in the core subjects would be taught from September 2014, paving the way for a two-tier exam system modelled on O-levels for academically gifted pupils and CSEs for less academically able students, from 2016. Downing Street announced on Thursday that the government would launch a consultation on improving exam standards. Cameron would like to see the Gove policy implemented but he accepts that it will be virtually impossible to persuade the Lib Dems to sign up. "David Cameron is a fan of this policy," one source said. But it was unhelpful that it leaked out in a way that allowed the Liberal Democrats to entrench themselves against it. This looks like Beecroft Mark II. This was a reference to the proposals by the Tory donor Adrian Beecroft, vetoed by the Lib Dems, that would have allowed companies to fire workers at will. The leak prompted some senior Tories to declare that Gove was "on manoeuvres" to burnish his blue Tory credentials as the party looks to a future after Cameron. Gove is planning to publish his plans in the week when Conservative MPs are to face a three-line whip to vote in favour of Clegg's plans to reform the House of Lords. There is no suggestion that the education secretary, who is one of the prime minister's closest political and personal allies, is moving against Cameron. But it is believed that he is trying to position himself as a strong successor amid a widespread feeling that George Osborne is struggling after his botched budget and the poor performance of the economy. Gove's best hope is that his policy, which would also see one exam board established for each subject, will be included in the Conservative manifesto for the next general election. "This is a marvellous red-hot Tory policy but we have to live with the coalition," one senior Tory said. A delay in the policy would come as a deep disappointment to Gove, who wants to start scrapping GCSEs from September 2014 because he believes the reforms would become "irreversible" by the time of the next election. Gove is adamant that he will press ahead with his plans on 9 July, when he intends to publish a document proposing that GCSEs should no longer be used as the accountability mechanism and a competition should be held to devise a "world-class" exam system. Gove is attracted by the system in Singapore where 75% of pupils sit O-levels set by the Cambridge exam board. The remaining 25% sit N-levels, which break down into two streams - half doing academic work and the other half following a vocational route. One source close to Gove said: "Nick Clegg has a strategic choice. Does he want to side with Labour and keep the annual debate about dumbing down or does he want to embrace reform and raise standards? The consultation announced by Downing Street last night was defined in wide terms to allow the Lib Dems to buy into the process while giving them confidence that GCSEs will not be scrapped. The prime minister's spokeswoman said: "The consultation will contain proposals that will ensure we look at the current exam system, which Michael Gove said isn't working for pupils; it is going to tackle the culture of competitive dumbing down with regards to qualifications; and it is going to look at a curriculum that will prepare all students for success beyond the age of 16."