The Education Secretary has defended the Government’s plans for new vocational GCSEs, insisting they are not “dumbing down” the system.

The qualifications – which will sit alongside traditional GCSEs – will be available to 14-year-olds in some subjects from as early as September 2029.

The new subjects offered could include business management and finance, child development, and building and construction.

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott has suggested the Labour Government’s reforms risk throwing away the progress made in improving standards across the education system.

Lucy Powell has rejected the suggestion that the qualifications are a “dumbing down” of the system as she said they are “very hard subjects”.

She told Times Radio on Thursday: “If you’re trying to do engineering or construction, for example, you know that involves a lot of problem solving, a lot of maths, a lot of thinking, as well as the hands-on skills that’s required.

“So it’s not dumbing down; it’s the opposite of that actually, because this is about raising the standards and the rigour and regulating these qualifications.”

The new vocational GCSEs will be the same size as GCSEs and will be nationally set, and the assessment and grading will be regulated by Ofqual to ensure full parity with traditional GCSEs.

Pupils will still be expected to study English, maths and science GCSEs, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.

Education unions have called for a clear strategy from the Government to ensure schools have the staffing and resources to deliver the reforms.

Ms Powell has said the Government will “work with schools” to ensure planned new vocational GCSEs are deliverable.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ms Powell said she did not expect every school to offer all vocational subjects, with some dependent on local business needs.

Asked whether there would be ring-fenced money to help schools pay for the new GCSEs or if funding would have to come from other budgets, the Education Secretary said: “We’ll work with schools, we’ll work with the sector to make sure this is absolutely deliverable.

“What I imagine is that some schools will offer some of these subjects where their local labour market demands, and this is where our mayors and our local leaders are really helping to shape that in their area.

“So I wouldn’t expect a school to offer all of these, as they don’t offer all GCSEs at the moment. They will specialise in particular areas.”

Conservative MP Laura Trott has accused Labour of “sabotaging young people’s futures” with the reforms which have been announced just weeks after the UK climbed into the top 10 in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) for maths and reading.

She said: “Better schools will continue to protect rigorous subjects but disadvantaged children will be steered towards easier routes, lowering expectations for the very pupils who need high standards most.”

The Liberal Democrats’ education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said questions remain over how schools are going to deliver the qualifications.

She warned: “The Government must be careful not to create a pipeline for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to be funnelled into at 14.”

The Government will also call on employers to provide an additional 200,000 work experience placements for pupils aged between 14 and 16.

It comes amid a push from the Government on achieving parity of esteem between vocational and academic pathways.

The DfE has said the current Technical Awards – which the new qualifications will eventually replace – have no nationally agreed content and they do not consistently support progression to further study.

The Government will adapt school performance measures to ensure Ofsted and the accountability system support the new vocational GCSEs.

A consultation will be launched later this year to shape the new qualifications.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “We’ve all heard someone say ‘school wasn’t really for me’ because they were not given the chance to study vocational courses as well as traditional subjects.

“That one-size-fits-all approach isn’t working, so we’re building an education system that values both academic and technical paths.

“I want to give all young people across Britain the hope that their future will be brighter – whether it starts at university or not.”