Gen Y Capital Partners is now accepting applications through its website and expects to begin the evaluation process in early 2012.

FORBES: A Start-up Accelerator For A New Generation Of Entrepreneurs

It also supports Empowered's website, where prospective students take an online evaluation to see what training might best suit their needs.

WSJ: UCLA and Start-Up Join Rush for Online Education

Prof Tymms, director of the Curriculum, Evaluation and Management (CEM) Centre at Durham, told the BBC News website he was very pleased at the findings as he had been "banging on" about the issue for a long time.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Education | School standard rise 'overstated'