SCOTLAND'S examinations system is set for major changes amid concerns that the current set-up is too "rigid" and does not give teachers enough freedom in the classroom, The Scotsman can reveal.

Peter Peacock, the education minister, said yesterday he wanted to set up an inquiry into the future of the exams system once the current curriculum review is completed.

The minister made his comments at a conference on international education in Edinburgh during which the current system came under attack.

"There's a sense that people have that our existing system is too rigid and that what is in the exams determines what our children learn," Mr Peacock said.

"There's got to be a re-assessment of what we assess. It's an inevitable consequence of reviewing our curriculum that we also need to review what we assess at the end of the learning process."

Dr Judith McClure, of the all-girl St George's School in Edinburgh, told yesterday's conference that the current system was "driven by external assessment".

"Testing must be to try to encourage pupils to learn," she said.

"We need to do something about our exams system, which is in the end being run for a few elite universities and not the interests of our pupils."

Mr Peacock agreed that changes needed to be made to the current set-up.

He said: "There is a danger that in Scotland, the exams system reaches down to year one in secondary and pulls pupils through a particular route rather than teachers being given more freedom to teach.

"We've got to have further dialogue in Scotland about how we get the balance right."

The curriculum review was launched by the Executive last year with the initial aim of re-drawing what is taught in primary schools and science lessons in the first three years of secondary school. It is expected to be completed by 2007-8.

The last review of the exams system was six years ago and led to the introduction of Access 1, 2 and 3, Intermediate 1 and 2, Higher and Advanced Higher exams assessments.

Standard Grades were retained, although a three-year review of their future is currently underway and the exam's long-term future is in serious doubt.

Ian Smith, dean of the faculty of education at Strathclyde University, yesterday said he supported Mr Peacock's assertion that the current exams system is too rigid and that change was needed.

"There is considerable evidence of that, particularly in the upper stages of secondary school," he said.

"The curriculum review certainly does seem to have strong emphasis on teachers having more freedom in the classroom, which does imply some kind of reform of the current exam system.

"In particular, there's a strong recognition that a very hard look should be taken at the current Standard Grade exams, which are about 25 years old now."

David Eaglesham, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA), said the current exams system focused too narrowly on pass rates rather than pupils' ability to contribute to society when they leave school.

He said: "Increasingly, people in business and other sectors are looking almost solely at the grades pupils get and not whether they are a well-rounded individual.

"If we were able to develop a system that still recognised pupils' technical achievements while also focusing on their ability to contribute to society, that would be a good thing."