SCOTTISH pupils are facing a "damaging" postcode lottery over the number of exams they can sit, according to a new report.
New figures from right of centre think tank Reform Scotland show the maximum number of National 4 and National 5 qualifications on offer varies between five and eight depending on where pupils live.
The report said the discrepancy was damaging because it meant school-leavers would be judged differently by employers and that it could also restrict their choices at Higher.
Read more: Scrapping Scottish school exams could improve education, says expert
While the discrepancy has been an issue since the introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Reform Scotland said the time had come to level the playing field.
Keir Bloomer, Reform Scotland advisory board member and chair of its Commission on School Reform, said: "Our research shows that inequality of opportunity is now built into our examination system... by decisions made mainly at council level.
"This is an unintended consequence of the way CfE is being interpreted. The result is that a very able student at one school could emerge with fewer qualifications than a similarly able student at a different school.
"Through no fault of their own, certain young children will be disadvantaged in the job and university market, and it is important to shine a light on this so that parents, universities and employers are aware of it."
The situation has arisen because Standard Grades were studied over two years from S3 to S4, whereas the new National exam courses of 160 hours are intended to be taken over one year in S4. That leaves schools with too few teaching hours to fit in more than six subjects.
Read more: Higher exam paper changed following concerns of questions leak
Schools that still allow pupils to study up to eight qualifications tend to allow pupils to select subjects at the end of S2 and work towards their National qualifications over two years.
The Scottish Government has argued pupils will still experience a broad education because they have more time for in-depth learning and extra-curricular activities.
It was also stressed schools could use new flexibility over timetabling for brighter pupils to study greater numbers of Highers by skipping Nationals altogether.
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, said the report highlighted concerns the curriculum had been "narrowed".
However, a spokesman for council umbrella body COSLA said it was "disappointing" the report had "misinterpreted" the data.
Read more: West coast schools dominate The Herald's exam league tables
He said: "There is no inequality of opportunity in terms of presentation for these exams and the decisions taken by councils and their schools are rightly and properly based on a range of education related factors.
"To suggest councils treat CfE as a lottery ignores the quality of outcomes already achieved by Scottish pupils since National 4 and 5 exams were introduced."
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, said the issues raised were already being examined by a national qualifications review group.
He added: "This highlights the way in which assessment and exams are dominating the experience of pupils in fourth year with insufficient use of by-pass for students aiming at Higher.
"Almost 90 per cent of pupils now stay on to fifth year where most will sit five subjects so that becomes the crucial year for many in terms of qualifications."
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