Frank Green principal of the Lincoln School of Science and Technology a grant-maintained school supported by

Frank Green, principal of the Lincoln School of Science and Technology, a grant-maintained school supported by 50 companies, said he would be interested in using the tests. His school already used the NFER tests with 12- and 14-year-olds to monitor progress and was considering using them as a selection tool for 11-year-olds.Hazel Farrow, principal of Loxford Technology College in Redbridge, east London, said she would not use them. Their results could determine whether they are allowed to enter one of the country's 196 specialist state schools and colleges.A research project to develop the new exams was launched yesterday by Gillian Shephard, Secretary of State for Education, as she announced 38 new technology and language colleges. It will initially work on tests for technological aptitude but could be extended to other subjects such as languages.Mrs Shephard said the project was designed not to assess knowledge or skills but aptitude. Children who had never studied a foreign language would be able to take such a test as easily as one who had, she said, and the exam could prove useful to over-subscribed schools. Officials from the City Technology Colleges Trust have already visited RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, where the selection takes place, to look at the interactive computer exams used there. Under the new tests, children would be assessed on skills such as hand- eye co-ordination and spatial awareness.

Frank Green, principal of the Lincoln School of Science and Technology, a grant-maintained school supported by 50 companies, said he would be interested in using the tests. His school already used NFER tests with 12- and 14-year-olds to monitor progress and was considering using them as a selection tool for 11-year-olds.Hazel Farrow, principal of Loxford Technology College in Redbridge, east London, said she would not use them. "In terms of the future of the country, it is the average child who needs to have these skills I think those with aptitude will gain them anyway. I want to increase those skills in the population in general," she said.. New tests in technological ability for 11-year-olds could help the Government's business-sponsored technology colleges to select their pupils in future.

The tests, commissioned by ministers, may be based on selection procedures used by the Air Force to pick potential pilots and navigators. Mrs Shephard said that children who had never studied a foreign language would be able to take such a test as easily as one who had.Opinion among headteachers invited to yesterday's press conference was divided. Their results could determine whether they are allowed to enter one of the country's 196 specialist state schools and colleges.The research, carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), will initially work on tests for technological aptitude but could be extended to other subjects such as languages. Gillian Shephard, the Secretary of State for Education, yesterday announced that there would be 38 new technology and language colleges. She also said that new tests in technological ability for 11-year-olds could help the Government's business-sponsored technology colleges select their pupils in future. This would abolish at one stroke the legal distinction between state and private education, the class divide which is unique to this country.". However, the former education adviser to the Government said the idea should be extended to pupils of compulsory school age and vouchers means-tested.Lord Skidelsky said: "I would give all state schools the status of legally independent corporations, able to charge fees, just like universities.

A new higher education quality agency of laymen and academics will seek to ensure equality of standards across university degrees. The loans corporation, which has been criticised for its handling of student loans, will be reformed.Another proposal for education, made yesterday by Lord Skidelsky, chairman of the Social Market Foundation, suggested that all parents of children aged between five and 16 should be given vouchers to spend in a privatised school system.Vouchers are being piloted by the Government for under-fives' education and are being considered for post-16-year-olds. It is possible the Dearing committee will recommend an increase in the maintenance payments.Labour also stressed that 47 per cent of those in higher education are mature students. "If it were taxation, they would be repaying it through their working life and whether they had further education or not.