THE HEAD of a reputed Oxford school has pleaded with the Government to hand power of education policy to teachers.

Cheney School leader Rupert Moreton has criticised 'constant change' in the system, which he said has lumbered students with 'incredible amounts of stress'.

He has commended teenagers at the Headington secondary school for their 'maturity' in meeting the demands of the new tougher GCSEs, but he has now called for politicians to relinquish control of the rulebook.

He said: "The profession has done its best during a time of great upheaval and change, but my plea is to hand the running of our education system to an independent and teacher-led body."

This year saw the first set of results in many subjects, since the rollout of course and grading changes - a similar case for A-Levels, which have also undergone change in recent years.

Mr Moreton, who joined the 1,400-pupil state school last September, is one of several Oxfordshire heads to cite concerns about GCSE changes.

Some said they were rushed in and left students and staff racing to cram in content and get to grips with new number grades.

Reforms saw also course content become harder in both GCSEs and A-Levels, and move away from a coursework model to put more pressure on exams.

In May, schools minister Nick Gibb said the new GCSEs were 'rigorous, gold-standard' qualifications, and would help to provide skills 'fit for the future'.

But Mr Moreton, whose school is rated 'good' by Ofsted, said running an education system based on 'politics and ideological beliefs' was 'not ideal'.

He added: "It leads to constant changes dependent on which flavour incumbent is in power, is often not based on research, and most importantly does not consider best interests of children who are on the receiving end.

"It is apposite that many of those who run our educational system, including the head of Ofsted, have children who do not have to experience the changes in the education system as our children in the state sector.

"Resilience of the teaching profession is being sorely tested."

He cited recruitment of new teachers as an 'increasing' problem, but added: "That said, as someone who joined the profession later on in life, it is a wonderful and rewarding job."

The Department for Education has previously defended the reforms and speed of implementation, insisting changes were necessary to boost standards.