A SIXTH-FORM college principal has slammed Education Secretary Estelle Morris for adding confusion and stress to his teachers' timetable.

Michael Finley, head of St Mary's College in Blackburn, said teachers had been overcome by new initiative fatigue in recent years, but had learned to live with change.

But the latest modifications the Secretary of State had made to examinations and key skills learning "have caused confusion and added stress to a profession which needs a modicum of stability".

Mr Finley's remarks follow hard on the heels of criticism by nine East Lancashire heads of the Government's school league tables. Meanwhile, several other local principals have joined in the disapproval of education policy in prize night speeches.

Speaking at the college's own prizegiving, Mr Finley said the sixth-form college and further education sector had experienced change more than most.

He said: "We have adapted to increased bureaucracy, we have modified our curriculum, we have widened participation and we have responded positively to the plethora of new ideas emanating from Government offices.

"We embraced the new curriculum, agreeing that the philosophy of a broadened experience would benefit young people."

However, some schools had been less enthusiastic as they were having difficulty delivering the programme. And in her wisdom, the new Secretary of State had reacted promptly to criticisms "to the dismay of many in education who would have preferred a more considered evaluation," Mr Finley said.

He added: "Furthermore, last year's cohort of 16-year-olds, for so long the guinea pigs in educational initiatives, have now had their efforts devalued.

"The requirement to do all three key skills has now been reduced to one at level three and the number, length and, presumably, quality of the AS examinations has been reduced."

The Government had also stated its commitment to levelling up the funding of post-16 students in sixth-form colleges to that enjoyed by pupils in school sixth forms.

However, new financial arrangements would widen the gap -- and the Department for Education had accepted schools receive 30 per cent more funding per student than sixth-form colleges, Mr Finley pointed out.

"St Mary's is an inclusive college catering for a wide range of academic abilities, from those with 10 A-stars at GCSE to those with few, if any, above grade D. We are proud of the achievements of those students who achieve the highest grades at A-level, but we are equally proud of those with more modest achievements," he said.