Schools are axing practical training courses despite recognition by teachers of their value to pupils, according to research that revealed 60% of schools are either planning to cut the provision of vocational qualifications, or have already done so.
This is despite 85% of senior teachers agreeing that vocational qualifications are valuable for their students.
In January last year, the education secretary, Michael Gove, ordered 96% of GCSE-equivalent vocational qualifications to be stripped from school league tables, following recommendations made in the Wolf report.
Research supported by the Edge Foundation, an independent education charity, and carried out by the thinktank IPPR, found 66% of senior teachers whose schools were cutting vocational provisions admitted the decision had been taken as a result of the changes to the performance tables. Some 15% said the reason for reducing the number of vocational courses was that they did not believe the courses were valuable.
By contrast, four in five (79%) of senior teachers interviewed agreed vocational qualifications provided a firm foundation for school-leavers to get jobs.
More than two-thirds (69%) agreed vocational qualifications were useful not only for those leaving school aged 16 but "offer a strong foundation for further study or training".
Jan Hodges, chief executive of the Edge Foundation, said: "We want high quality vocational qualifications to achieve parity alongside other educational routes for young people.
"Our concern is that in attempting to guarantee quality the government has used a sledgehammer to crack the nut.
"Schools are now being forced to drop valuable technical, practical and work-related courses or risk getting no credit for the provision."
The government announced a year ago that 70 vocational qualifications would count towards a school's GCSE performance in league tables in future – a cut from more than 3,000.
The move is part of an attempt by the government to stop schools encouraging youngsters to take qualifications that boost their league table position but do not help a pupil's prospects.
Ministers said just 125 vocational qualifications would be included from 2014.
Of these, only 70 would count towards the main performance measure - the percentage of pupils getting at least five Cs at GCSE, including English and maths.
The other 55 would count in the tables, but would not contribute towards the main measure.
Plans to slash the numbers of "equivalent" qualifications were first announced by ministers in 2011 following Professor Alison Wolf's review of vocational education.
The survey of 252 senior teaching leaders in the same number of English state schools was carried out by Opinion Matters from 10-21 December.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "Previously schools could do well in performance tables by offering poor-value qualifications, 94% of which failed rigorous tests by experts to check their value to pupils' future education and employment prospects.
"We strongly believe that vocational education needs transforming for young people to succeed in today's job market, which is why we have overhauled the system to recognise only high quality vocational courses that lead directly to a skilled trade or profession."
