However, this is a long-term plan that the Government says will take a decade to deliver. The new Baccalaureate-style qualification will mean that students will study five subjects, including some English and maths to 18.
Rishi Sunak set out plans for the new qualification during his speech at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, saying it would bring together the best of A Levels and T Levels.
It would be ‘rigorous’ and ‘knowledge-rich’ and put technical qualifications and academic qualifications on an equal footing, he said.
Sunak also said that those training to be teachers would be paid an extra £30,000 over five years.
The plans have been met with scepticism by some teaching unions and sector organisations.
CONFUSING LANDSCAPE
The National Day Nurseries Association said the policy would cause ‘more upheaval’ for nursery employers, while the National Education Union said the policy was ‘pie-in-the-sky’, and there was ‘no magic wand to create English and maths teachers.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the NDNA said, ‘There’s still a lack of awareness about T-levels, so proposals to combine these into the new Advanced British Standard sixth form qualification is more upheaval in an already confusing landscape for early years employers.
‘People looking to start or build a career in early years need greater clarity and certainty about the qualifications that will allow them to work in this rewarding sector. All too often we hear of employers having to turn away possible staff because the qualification they have been sold does not meet the Government’s requirements.’
Highlighting the shortage in maths and English specialists in secondary schools, the NEU said that one in six English teachers and one in five maths teachers do not have a post A-Level qualification in the subject, and that an extra 4,300 maths teachers and 2,600 English teachers were needed.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said, ‘Rishi Sunak is doubling down on pie-in-the-sky education policies. He is completely out of touch with reality.
‘The Government's long-standing failure to hit its own training targets, compounded by the haemorrhaging of teachers due to high workload and below inflation pay, made the Prime Minister's call in January for more maths teaching an impossible dream. His Government's reduced training targets were again missed this summer. The Advanced British Standard, briefed out last month and confirmed today, is even more misconceived and extends his detachment from reality. There is no magic wand to create English and maths teachers in sufficient numbers to educate 11-16 year olds, let alone at A-Level too.’
'MORE DETAIL NEEDED'
However, David Robinson, director for Post 16 and Skills at the Education Policy Institute (EPI), welcomed the 'aspiration' for a broader curriculum in England, noting that sixth form and college students study a narrower curriculum than most developed countries.
But he warned that more detail was needed and that the Government must work closely with the sector before rushing through any new reforms.
'In particular, we are concerned that yet another overhaul of post-16 qualifications will cause further uncertainty and disruption for a Further Education sector only just adapting to the introduction of T Levels, now set to be largely mothballed before even being fully implemented,'he said.
Tanuku added that more investment was needed in the early years workforce, which is facing a serious crisis with qualified staff leaving the sector.
‘Employers are constrained by low government funding rates for childcare places, so cannot offer attractive salaries which recognise and reward skill and experience. Any additional money to attract and retain teachers needs to be mirrored in the early years workforce as well.’