EDUCATION bosses have hit back at a Government education adviser who claims that many vocational qualifications do not lead to jobs or university places.

Professor Alison Wolf, an expert in public policy, has said that up to 400,000 teenagers are wasting their time on publicly-funded college courses which do not lead to jobs or further training.

But the findings in the report, which was commissioned by education secretary Michael Gove, have been vigorously disputed by Blackburn College principal Ian Clinton.

Mr Clinton said that this was not a ‘true reflection’ of the impact vocational and training courses can have.

He said: “From our perspective, the findings in this report are certainly not a true reflection of practice at Blackburn College, where courses are developed with local and national employers so that students study the skills employers want.

“Preparation for progression to university is also essential when we devise the content of our vocational courses.

“More than 500 students progressed to university from Blackburn College in 2010, with the highest numbers being from creative arts, construction and business and law courses.”

“Professor Wolf also suggested that businesses should be paid for further training their staff but that is nothing new — we have been doing something similar for a while now.”