The headmaster of one of the county's highest achieving independent schools has launched an attack on GCSEs league tables.

Richard Cairns, of Brighton College, said the statistics were encouraging schools to put pupils through exams which were counterproductive to their intellectual development.

Mr Cairns said: "We are forcing children to dig up roads when we should really be teaching them to design bridges."

He called on other headmasters to follow his lead by reducing the number of GCSEs they enter pupils into. He believes this will relieve them of pressure to achieve in subjects they are not suited to.

From this year students at the college will sit just nine GCSEs, instead of the usual 11. The rest of their time will be spent developing in subjects they are personally interested in.

Pupils interested in chemistry will be able to spend time in laboratories, for example.

Mr Cairns said: "The GCSE points system is a nonsense, encouraging heads to overburden their pupils unnecessarily. The universities want A*s, As and Bs and schools should be judged by the proportion of grades at those levels."