THE head of a top East Lancashire grammar school has launched a scathing attack on the education system, warning it was in "crisis".

Doctor David Hempsall, head of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, said constant examinations had stifled the flair of both teachers and pupils.

In a wide-ranging attack on education policy, he accused the government of overseeing a fall in confidence in exams.

Dr Hempsall, in his last annual prizegiving before retirement, delivered the damning speech to hundreds of parents and VIP guests.

But the Department for Education and Skills said tests were a non-negotiable part of school reform, and that standards were improving.

Dr Hempsall told guests: "What is the truth about standards? Have they declined over time? Yes, they have. What's declined is the amount which youngsters know. I deplore the government's setting targets for those working in the education profession - and other professions too - without real knowledge or understanding."

He claimed the government had released Key Stage 2 results on the same day as GCSEs to "bury bad news". He said the fact that 16per cent achieved a C in maths at GCSE was depressing.

"These are the politics of the madhouse. Make no mistake: We are in a state of crisis," he added.

Dr Hempsall said: "Were I to be starting all over again, I would pare to almost nothing the National Curriculum. I would slash the number of GCSEs which youngsters take and use the time recovered from public examination work to teach and learn about other, equally - no, even more - important things."

But following the speech, a DfES spokesman said: "Excellent standards of teaching, radical reform and record levels of investment have gone hand-in-hand to deliver 5,800 more good or excellent primary and secondary schools today than in 1997, record test and examination results, and fewer failing schools."