EXCLUSIVE: By Edd McCracken, Education Correspondent

The Scottish government's flagship education policy, Curriculum for Excellence, looks set to be delayed by a year.

Union leaders and teaching officials sitting on a management board for the new curriculum have advised the government that too many issues remain unresolved around its content and, crucially, its new qualification, for it to be delivered effectively in the current time frame.

After consistently stating Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) will roll out nationally next August, sources say the government is now in "listening mode" and considering its options while advisers to the cabinet secretary for education and lifelong learning, Fiona Hyslop, have told her it is a year too early.

Under current plans, pupils starting S1 in August 2009 will be the first nationwide intake to begin under the Curriculum for Excellence. They will sit a new exam replacing the Standard Grade in 2012-2013.

But groups including School Leaders Scotland (SLS), Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, and the Scottish Council for Independent Schools (SCIS), who all sit on the management board, as well as Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC), have warned that the time scale for implementing the new qualification was not possible due to a litany of "fundamental flaws" that need to be ironed out in the proposals.

These include teachers being unsure how the qualification will join up with what is taught between S1 and S3, criticism over pupils only being able to choose five subjects at S4 level when previously they could take seven or eight, as well as general uncertainty over the form and structure of subjects between S1 and S3.

The Educational Institute of Scotland, Scotland's biggest teaching union and member of the management board, said it wouldn't be surprised if the curriculum was given an extra year to develop. The Association of Directors of Eduction in Scotland, also on the board, said the idea of an extension was "a welcome possibility".

At a recent meeting of the board, a representative from the Scottish Qualifications Authority, the agency charged with delivering the new qualifications, said "time was tight".

"The fact that we are all sitting around the same table, the directors of education, teaching unions, and we're all saying the same, is a very potent message," said Judith Sischy, director of SCIS. "It doesn't boil down to simply give us a year', that's just an outcome. The message is we need more detail. We need a road map."

She added: "It wouldn't be embarrassing for the government, it would be sensible. I think it underestimated the time needed for transformational change."

All members of the board said they supported the fundamentals behind Curriculum for Excellence, which has been piloted in individual schools over the last two years. It aims to be less prescriptive in what is taught and how teachers deliver their lessons. Less focus is placed on examinations to help develop more rounded learning experiences for pupils.

"We know the Curriculum for Excellence is not something that is going away," said Ken Cunningham, general secretary of SLS. "We're saying there are certain issues around this that the government needs to take on board. One of these issues is that the time line will shift. The government has heard that."

The SPTC said the present time line was based on the presumption that there would be no changes to the government's proposals. Development manager Judith Gillespie said change was vital.

"If the government is serious about listening to what the educational community are saying back to it, from the various groups that I have spoken to it would suggest there has to be some pretty radical changes," she said. "The only way to do this by next August is to ignore everything that is being said back to them, continuing with what they have designed, putting that into schools and then keeping their fingers crossed. Because it has got really big flaws."

Labour said it was not surprised by the potential delay and laid the blame firmly at Hyslop's feet.

"Everything about this points to a lack of clear focus and leadership at the top," said Ken Macintosh MSP, who sits on the education committee. "The minister supports Curriculum for Excellence in general but isn't really behind it. She isn't leading from the front and saying this is where we will be in a year's time. So we have this drift. The Curriculum for Excellence is a great idea but it is in danger of drifting away until it becomes meaningless."

He added that the government should heed the board and take its time over rolling it out.

"You can't take chances with our children's education. If there is a choice between cracking ahead without any clear objectives, or saying lets get this right, there is no choice. You have to make sure the system is right for children."

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "The consultation on the qualifications element of Curriculum for Excellence ends on October 31. The overall timetable for Curriculum for Excellence, including the qualifications section, is currently being finalised. Advice will be put to ministers in the coming weeks and an announcement will be made in due course."