Bradford needs more plumbers and less media students, according to the Institute of Directors.

The organisation is calling for several major reforms to be made to the country's education and training systems.

It says this would significantly help improve educational and skills standards, and help boost the economy.

In a recently released policy paper, the IoD says the government must replace the current secondary school system with a clearly selective system that has a proper vocational pathway.

It is also calling for the target to get 50 per cent of young people into higher education to be scrapped.

It says far more effort should be put into developing and promoting post-school vocational training.

Ruth Lea, head of the IoD's policy unit and report author, said: "In the recent Comprehensive Spending Review, the Chancellor announced huge increases in taxpayers' money for education.

"While we agree with the emphasis placed on education and the need for better skills by the Government, we doubt whether the extra money will deliver significantly improved results without major structural changes."

The IoD says the government needs to stop interfering with schools and stop making so many initiatives.

It says schools should be freed from interference and that more younger people should be steered toward vocational courses.

Ruth Lea added: "Firstly, there needs to be major changes to schools.

"The current one-size-fits-all GCSE/A-level straight jacket fails too many children and we should be looking to countries such as the Netherlands and Germany to develop proper vocational courses.

"Secondly, the current obsession with sending as many young people as possible into higher education undermines vocational training by making it appear a second best.

"This helps no-one, least of all many students who study inappropriate higher education courses, and continues to put us at a disadvantage in the international vocational skills league tables.

"We need more plumbers and fewer media studies graduates. Finally, vocational education and training need much more support with some serious thinking going into how we can achieve a parity of esteem between academic and vocational education."