Thinktank Demos has warned ministers against introducing a "son of the Gold standard" to replace the A Level.

It says A Levels should be replaced with learning licences which offer a "personalised" form of student assessment in a new report.

The current system is too focused on university admissions procedures and not on the actual education attainment of pupils, the report finds.

It says schools are being pressurised to "turn students into exam scores for university admissions".

Following the decision to overhaul the A Level system, the report says there is "a rare opportunity for fundamental reform of school qualifications".

The study, entitled "Beyond Measure: Why educational assessment is failing the test", says 14-19 qualification reforms are at a critical point.

The report, produced in association with Edexcel, argues that linking new methods of assessment to 14-19 reform is central to raising school standards.

Demos is concerned that attempts to develop assessment for learning could be blocked by political pressure to create the "son of the gold standard".

"It is becoming obvious that schools that have become skilled at playing the A-level system will oppose any admissions system which takes learning context into account," says the think tank.

Author Paul Skidmore adds: "What we are seeing is the steady devaluation of a qualifications system which has served the requirements of university admissions better than the educational needs of pupils.

"The question now is whether it is replaced by assessment for learning, or another system which reduces pupils to the sum of their test scores."

John Kerr, chief executive of Edexcel, said: "We are pleased that Demos has produced such a thought-provoking report.

"We need to think more carefully about the type of assessment we have in this country and this report provides a very good starting point."