It perplexed many people when Michael Gove announced plans to scrap GCSE's and replace them with old fashioned O-Level exams. Now Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is said to be planning to block any move by the education secretary to push the proposals through.

Clegg, who is currently at the Rio+20 environment summit in Brazil, stated that the reforms were 'not government policy', and that the Lib Dems would veto any such proposal in parliament.

The leaked documents propose that after 2015, a two tier exam structure will be set up, whereby more academically successful pupils take O-Levels, and those who score lower take GCSE style exams.

The proposals have been seen by many as an attempt to turn the clock back to the 1950s, when O-Levels were only taken by the privileged few who were academically capable or who went to independent schools, creating an elite group viewed by employers as having superior qualifications.

Gove's plans come amid pressure on the government to improve academic progress, after reports have shown that the UK's education system is struggling to compete with countries such as Finland and Singapore.

Written and narrated by Alfred Joyner