Tories 'plan five-plus and 11-plus exams'

Radical Tory education plans will leave children as young as five facing an exam to get into primary school, ministers warned today.

The claim came as it emerged that the Conservative pledge to give headteachers control over admissions would apply to all schools, not just at secondary level.

A senior Tory source confirmed that the policy would give even primary schools freedom from Whitehall and council control.

Schools Minister David Miliband said it would create "not just a return to the 11-plus, but a new five-plus exam."

Tony Blair yesterday said the Tories' proposals would lead to "not parents choosing schools but schools choosing parents".

The Government today sought to outflank its opponents by revealing that specialist secondary schools now number more than 2,000.