Civitas’s statement about academies points to a wider problem with Britain’s approach to education - namely the misguided belief that academic qualifications are the right route for every young person and that vocational qualifications are a poor relation.

The mindset of successive governments that getting more young people through university was the cure-all to our nation’s skills shortage has only served to distort the picture. As cuts are made in university budgets and thousands of graduates join the dole queue, we have to realise that academic qualifications are not a panacea.

Only by making sure that all qualifications - academic and vocational - reach the highest possible standards can our young people follow career paths that are right for them and give the economy new recruits who are up to the job.

Jane Scott Paul, Chief executive, Association of Accounting Technicians, London.