A committee of MPs has said that there is too much confusion over which government department is responsible for secondary education.
In a new report published on Thursday, the Commons children, schools and families committee said that the Whitehall shake-up introduced by Gordon Brown last year had resulted in a lack of a "mission".
Splitting the old Education and Skills ministry into a new Department for Children, Schools and Families Department (DCSF) and a Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) had left it unclear "who's in charge" of 14-19 education.
It noted that other departments were also still involved in the DCSF agenda.
"Apart from early years and 5 to 13 schooling, for which DCSF has sole responsibility, it appears the Department has joint responsibility and varying degrees of control for all other areas of children's policy," the committee said.
The report also welcomed the intentions behind the department's overarching Children's Plan, published last year.
However it said the blueprint needed "greater clarity" as it used too many different measures of success and was "simply a list of stated ambitions".
Committee chairman Barry Sheerman said: "Joint working across government departments presents both challenges and opportunities for all involved, including our committee.
"While it is still clearly our main task to hold the secretary of state to account for these new arrangements, we will also be scrutinising the work of other departments involved in children's issues and we look forward to taking evidence from ministers from different departments later this year on the issue of child poverty.
"The Children's Plan provides an opportunity to make a tangible and lasting difference not just to children's education but to children's services across the board.
"We urge the government to be clear about what it hopes to achieve through this ambitious plan."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd