The schools secretary has announced an extension of the use of A-levels until at least 2013.

Ed Balls said in a written statement to MPs on Tuesday that a review which was due to take place next year will be postponed for five years.

The move was being seen as a reprieve for A-levels and GCSEs, which had been threatened with replacement by an overarching diploma in the Tomlinson report.

The government rejected that recommendation in 2004, promising a review in 2008.

Balls said the two could continue to exist alongside each other for longer and confirmed that a wider range of diplomas would be available in science, languages and humanities to increase the options for 14 to 19-year-olds. 

He claimed diplomas, which combine academic studies with vocational experience, could become "the qualification of choice" over the next decade, but said he would wait and see how successful they are.

"It has been argued in the past that diplomas could only be a success if A-levels and GCSEs were no longer offered as stand-alone qualifications, and that we should use the planned 2008 review of A-levels to signal the end of these qualifications," the minister said.

"But this is not the government's view and not a matter for us to pre-judge. We need to have time to consider the success of our diplomas, and assess how far the changes we have already made to A-levels and GCSEs have strengthened these qualifications."

Speaking at a conference of business leaders and education professionals in London, Balls said: "If diplomas are successfully introduced and are delivering the mix that employers and universities value, they could become the qualification of choice for young people.

"But, because GCSEs and A-Levels are long-established and valued qualifications, that should not be decided by any pre-emptive government decision, but by the demands of young people, schools and colleges."

"Diplomas will open up real opportunities for combining academic and practical options to allow every young person to make the most of their talents, whether they are progressing to further study, work or an apprenticeship," he added.

"We are confident that these new subject-based diplomas will secure the benefits of diplomas for all young people. They will provide a wider curriculum offer for those young people who want to secure both the theory and practical skills they need to excel in study, work and life.

"We need the business and academic worlds to continue to back these qualifications and help make them a success. With their support, I believe that diplomas could emerge as the jewel of our education system."

However shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "Diplomas were supposed to be about improving vocational education not undermining academic excellence.

"We support the reform of vocational learning but these new exams announced today are designed to subvert GCSEs and A-levels. Instead of accepting Mike Tomlinson's agenda of weakening the academic gold standard, Ed Balls should be concentrating on dealing with under-achievement.

"While he draws up fantasy qualifications for 2011 half of young people today are failing to get five good passes at GCSE including maths and English and one in five school leavers still can't read, write and count properly."