New government plans to introduce report cards for schools have been criticised by a leading education expert who claims the system will hide the diversity the institutions may have.

According to schools minister Jim Knight, the report cards will be an easier way for parents to choose and compare schools as well as understand how they are raising standards.

However, Professor Peter Tymms, the director of Durham University’s centre for evaluation and monitoring thinks otherwise, the Northern Echo reports.

"In a report card, the school gets a single grade. In these large complex organisations, that does not make a lot of sense," he said. "Report cards hide the diversity and the differences that you might be interested in."

"You could get a great chemistry department in a school that does not take a lot of notice of physical development."

The new school report cards are part of wider changes to strengthen schools’ accountability to parents and the public.