Ministers are treating school pupils as if they were business products to be managed rather than children to be educated, an Oxford University study suggested today.

The Nuffield Review of 14 to 19 education said the Government's aim of boosting the British economy was overshadowing the true role of schools in young people's lives.

Businesses increasingly run state schools and can even award their own A-Level equivalent qualifications, as in the recent case of McDonald's.

Lead author of the report, Oxford's Prof Richard Pring, said: "The changes at 14-19 are too often driven by economic goals at the expense of broader educational aims.

"We need to give young learners far more than skills for employment alone, even if such skills are key to the country's economy."

The Nuffield report said if the broader aims of education were neglected, there was a "risk of damaging the values that define an educated and humane society". It criticised the use of terms such as "inputs", "targets" and "curriculum delivery" in education.