The Education and Skills Commission has warned against Michael Gove’s proposed changes to changes to ICT curriculum in school. The commission, comprised of some of the UK’s IT leaders, has warned that the proposals leave schools with the freedom to provide no ICT education until 2014.

The current ICT curriculum focuses on teaching students to use software applications, such as spreadsheets and presentations. Under Education Secretary Michael Gove’s proposals, the current teaching programme will be scrapped from September and replaced with a new programme from 2014. The new curriculum will focus on computer science and programming.

The move was praised by IT industry at the time, but there are now concerns that there will be no compulsory ICT education in schools for two years.

John Harris, Chairman of the Commision said: "We are very concerned that the absence of a programme of study or attainment targets for any period of time will severely disadvantage large groups of children as a result of significant differences in standards between the schools that put in place good quality replacements and those that do the bare minimum or, in the absence of guidance, nothing at all. In other words we strongly believe that something is better than nothing and while the school curriculum content needs to change to prepare young people for study in IT related subjects at university, there should be no disapplication ahead of substitution."