The education secretary's proposal to increase the school leaving age to 18 has received a cautious welcome.

Alan Johnson, who first raised the idea last November, is believed to have the full backing of the chancellor.

Friday's Times reported Johnson had set up a team to organise increasing the age children must be at school, in training or in an apprenticeship from 16 to 18 by 2013.

The change would mean 10-year-olds entering secondary school next year would have to stay in education until 18.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills later said Johnson was "definitely looking into it" but it would be "going too far" to say it would certainly happen.

Opposition Response: Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat education spokesman Sarah Teather said: "I welcome this important reform as a constructive proposal from Alan Johnson.

"However, raising the leaving age in isolation will not achieve the desired effect. Ministers need to address the reasons that young people drop out in the first place.

"For many students the secondary curriculum is old fashioned and uninteresting for many of them.

"The government must bin A-levels and GCSEs and introduce a modern British diploma system that allows teenagers to mix vocational courses with academic learning."

Stakeholder Response: NASUWT