SCHOOLS have been urged to press ahead with new Higher exams despite the offer of a delay by the Scottish Government.

Secondary headteachers said it was better for pupils to sit the revised Highers because they were designed to follow on from new exams further down the school system.

Yesterday, The Herald revealed that Education Secretary Michael Russell had given the green light to schools to delay the ­introduction of the new Highers after pressure from teaching unions and councils.

The exams were supposed to be taken by all pupils in 2015, but some schools will now be allowed to sit them in 2016 instead.

Mr Russell said: "We expect the new Highers will be the best option for our young people when they come on stream, but we recognise there may be some situations where the professional judgment of teachers may lead them to consider other options."

The move comes after a number of councils - including Glasgow and Edinburgh - said not all schools were ready for the planned implementation and intended to offer the old Highers, which will be run in tandem with the new ones for an extra year.

However, Ken Cunningham, general secretary of secondary headteachers' union School ­Leaders' Scotland, said that was not desirable.

He said: "We believe we are still on track to keep the programme going to schedule and, with the right support, schools should introduce the new Higher because it is a natural follow-on from earlier exams. There may be a few departments that are not ready, but we believe it is better to keep going than stepping back to do the old Higher."

Douglas Chapman, education spokesman for council body Cosla, said the organisation also wanted to maintain the timetable for the introduction of the new Highers .

He said: "Any deferral will, in our view, be as part of a pragmatic solution to exceptional circumstances in schools.

"A decision to introduce any flexibility will be taken at a strategic level by local authorities and must be made for sound educational reasons and in the best interests of students."

Opposition politicians attacked the Scottish Government's handling of the situation.

Kezia Dugdale, education spokeswoman for Scottish Labour, said: "Parents and students must be wondering what is going on with the constant delays and changes to something so fundamentally important to their lives as school exams.

"If Mike Russell had worked with teachers and local authorities rather than railroading through these plans, then we wouldn't be in this situation. He was repeatedly warned this would happen."

Elizabeth Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, added: "This kind of confusion is extremely unhelpful for all concerned, be it parents, pupils or teaching staff."

However, teaching unions welcomed the opportunity for delay with Alan McKenzie, acting general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, saying: "There is no doubt our position on the requirement for delay is vindicated and it would be reassuring to know that when our members report difficulties in the implementation of curricular reform that they are taken seriously and not dismissed and ignored."