EBCs in history, geography and foreign languages are due to be brought in later.

BBC: Education & Family

EBCs for other subjects - history, geography and languages - are due to be rolled out later.

BBC: Gove challenged over exam changes by watchdog Ofqual

However, Mr Gove stopped short of introducing a new qualification for 16-year-olds called the English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBCs).

BBC: GCSE changes 'could see unpredictable results'

Mrs French said EBCs could "make a failing system more complicated and possibly more prone to absolute collapse in the end".

BBC: Education & Family

EBCs in English, maths and science are due to be introduced in autumn 2015, with the first exams being taken in 2017.

BBC: Education & Family

But she raised concerns about the idea of scrapping GCSEs in core academic subjects and replacing them with new English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs).

BBC: Education & Family

The main difference between the EBCs and the existing GCSEs is that they would not have been set by a number of exams boards.

BBC: Why the Ebacc Certificates sank and what happens next

Pupils were due to begin studying for EBCs in some key subjects in 2015 and the qualifications were to be rolled out to other subjects after that.

BBC: Why the Ebacc Certificates sank and what happens next

With only about 60% of 16-year-olds currently achieving the government's benchmark of five good GCSE passes including English and maths, it is clear many young people might not have passed the EBCs, which were being presented as more demanding than the current exams.

BBC: Why the Ebacc Certificates sank and what happens next