It will take around a decade to introduce the baccalaureate-style education programme announced by Rishi Sunak in his conference speech, Downing Street has admitted.
In his address to the Tory Party conference in Manchester, the prime minister announced the creation of a new school-leaver qualification called the “Advanced British Standard” in England to “bring together A-levels and T-levels into a new, single qualification”.
It will see students study English and maths to age 18 – an announcement that has previously been made public.
Mr Sunak said the new system will “finally deliver on the promise of parity of esteem between academic and technical education” because “all students will sit the Advanced British Standard”.
He also said it would help “raise the floor ensuring that our children leave school literate and numerate”.
However, education unions have warned that the plans are “pie in the sky” and “are likely to prove a pipe dream” due to teacher shortages.
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Asked how long it would take for the prime minister to bring in the new system, Mr Sunak’s press secretary said: “I believe it will take about 10 years for the advanced British standard to replace A-levels.
“This is a big change to the education system, we will have to work with education experts to work it through.”
Mr Sunak had previously trailed that he wanted pupils to study maths to 18, describing it as his “new mission”.
His spokesperson confirmed the policy will be limited to England as education is a devolved matter, but added: “If the devolved administrations want to use the same standard then they can, and that would be a good thing.”
Elsewhere in his speech, the prime minister announced that sixth-form students will study five subjects rather than three and that the number of taught hours for all post-16 students will rise to at least 1,475 over two years – an extra 195 hours for most students.
Mr Sunak also repeated his plans to crack down on what he called “rip off degrees”, saying he would stop universities from “enrolling students on courses that doing nothing for their life choices”.
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Turning his fire on Labour, Mr Sunak said the party had created an assumption that the “only route to success” was through university and that was “one of the great mistakes of the last 30 years”.
He pointed to Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, saying she is the first ever apprentice to fulfil that post.
Mr Sunak announced an initial investment of £600m over two years to lay the groundwork for delivering the Advanced British Standard – which will include funding for tax-free bonuses of up to £30,000 over the first five years of the careers of teachers in key shortage subjects.
A consultation on how to implement the qualification will open this autumn.
‘Completely out of touch with reality’
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said that while the “principles of these proposals are good, the practicalities are daunting because of the severity of the teacher recruitment and retention crisis”.
“We’re not convinced that the prime minister’s plan for an early career bonus payment for teachers in key shortage subjects in schools and colleges will be anywhere near enough,” he added.
“Teacher shortages are widespread and very problematic in many subjects. This problem requires a much broader strategy to improve pay, conditions and education funding.
“Without this commitment, the prime minister’s plans for an Advanced British Standard are likely to prove a pipe dream.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said the announcement “raises so many questions”, while Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said Mr Sunak was “completely out of touch with reality”.
“There is no magic wand to create English and maths teachers in sufficient numbers to educate 11 to 16-year-olds, let alone at A-level too,” he added.
The proposals were described as “ambitious” by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which also warned that “policy churn” in recent years has had “its own costs, making it more difficult for schools, young people and employers to understand the value of qualifications and to navigate the system”.
