PARENTS are increasingly concerned about a radical shake-up of Scotland's exam system that leaves pupils ­studying fewer subjects despite being intended to provide a broader education.

According to the Scottish ­Qualifications Authority (SQA), schools are submitting pupils for an average of six new National examinations in 2014, compared to seven under the previous system of Standard Grades, which has now been phased out.

Parents in Aberdeenshire have already protested at a decline in the number of qualifications being sat under the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), but the latest figures show the issue is Scotland-wide.

In the week pupils return to school after the summer holidays, academics and parents have warned the reduction could narrow learning and restrict choices at Higher level.

Concerns were also raised that the smaller choice would create greater competition between different subjects, with pupils having to make earlier choices about whether to drop sciences or languages.

However, teaching unions and the Scottish Government argued pupils would still experience a broad education, with 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.

The situation has arisen because Standard Grades were studied over two years from S3 to S4, whereas the new 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.

Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, s aid: "The concept of CfE was sold to parents on the basis of increased flexibility and personalisation but, where schools are adhering rigidly to the 160-hours guidance, the reality has been subject reduction, limiting access to qualifications.

"Parents are concerned their ­youngsters are being left with difficult choices, where so-called soft subjects such as expressive arts are losing out.

"Even in relation to English, maths and sciences, parents fear their child may be missing out, particularly those who envisage their youngster heading to university to study medicine or law."

Mark Priestly, professor of education at Stirling University, also suggested six subjects was too narrow.

"I want to see pupils taking seven or eight subjects, not narrowing down their options before the age of 16," he said. "This makes the choice of subjects extremely competitive and it will be harder to fit all the choices in that a pupil might want to make, and that was not what was intended under CfE."

However, Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, said the focus should be on the wider experience of pupils.

"What a school offers is not simply about the qualifications, and pupils will be offered a much broader experience through extra-curricular projects," he said. "We would be very worried if five National qualifications become the norm, but six will still provide a good spread."

A spokesman for the Scottish ­Government said there was no single prescribed curriculum model for delivering CfE.

"It requires each school and its education authority to work out the curriculum model that best suits their young people, in partnership with parents and pupils," he said.

Dr Gill Stewart, SQA director of ­qualifications, said the new Nationals were designed to better recognise the achievement of young people across the whole school year and to ensure they demonstrated both knowledge and understanding of a subject.