|
Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
 A world-class education system: The Advanced British Standard
Today the Prime Minister set out proposals for a groundbreaking new qualification for 16-19 year-olds, the Advanced British Standard.
This will bring A levels and T Levels into a single qualification harnessing the strengths of both and building on the success of our education reforms since 2010. Our reforms have raised standards and made a lasting improvement to curriculum and qualifications and provide a world-class foundation for this work going forward.
The Advanced British Standard will bring academic and technical pathways together into a single framework, within which students will be able to study predominantly academic, or technical (including an occupational specialist route) components, or a blend of both. This new framework will increase the number of taught hours for all students to at least 1,475 over two years - an additional 195 hours for most students. This will support both breadth and depth of study, ensuring students are well-equipped to go on to higher education or technical study, an apprenticeship or employment. Increasing taught time will also benefit the most disadvantaged students, who are less likely than their peers to have access to the resources they need for independent study.
We will build on the best of A levels and T Levels. The academic subjects within the Advanced British Standard will be based on the content and academic rigour of A levels, taking the same knowledge-based approach. The technical subjects within the qualification will be based on the content of T Levels and occupational standards that employers and IfATE have carefully designed, supporting progression into higher technical education, apprenticeships and employment. We will continue to ensure T Levels continue to roll out as they will provide the technical options for the Advanced British Standard, with employer-developed occupational standards at their core.
The Advanced British Standard will support greater breadth by increasing the number of subjects taken post 16. Students will be able to choose a combination of ‘majors’ and ‘minors’ but will be required to study English and maths, at least at minor level, which we know are critical to ensuring young people have the essential knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life and work. We expect most students will take a minimum of five subjects, although those focusing on a specific occupation may take a minimum of four, reflecting the additional time they will need to spend developing specialist knowledge and engaging in high quality industry placements. There will also be a dedicated route for those students working below Level 3, designed to support them to progress into their chosen occupation or further study, and apprenticeships will continue to be available for those who are looking for high quality ‘on-the-job’ training.
The Advanced British Standard is an ambitious, long-term reform programme which will take a decade to deliver in full. We know it will need to be properly resourced, including funding the additional taught hours the new qualification will involve, and that work to develop the new post-16 system needs to begin now. We have therefore announced we will invest over £600 million over the next two years to pave the way for this significant change.
It will:
- Include funding for a tax-free bonus of up to £30,000 over the first five years of their career for teachers in key shortage subjects, with FE colleges set to benefit the most. This will see a doubling of the rates of the existing Levelling Up Premium and extending it to those teaching key shortage subjects in all FE colleges, wherever they are in the country. It will disproportionately benefit disadvantaged pupils, who are more likely to be studying in FE colleges.
- Boost funding by £150m annually to those who do not pass maths and English GCSE at 16 to gain these qualifications. This investment will mean that if a student is retaking English and maths GCSE while studying at Level 2 or below on their 16-19 course, they will now attract the same funding as those studying at Level 3. We will also invest in English and maths for all post-16 apprentices who have not gained their Level 2 qualification - uplifting the funding rates to match the Adult Education Budget.
- Provide an additional £40 million in the Education Endowment Foundation, so that they can expand their current efforts, which at present focus more on the under-16s. EEF will act as the independent authority on creating and sharing evidence for teachers and leaders on what works to support outcomes for 16-19 year-olds, with a particular focus on approaches that work best to narrow gaps in attainment.
- Turbo-charge the best, evidence-based techniques for maths teaching ahead of the introduction of the Advanced British Standard: teaching for mastery in maths. Mastery approaches are built on international best practice and are showing success in primary school, and we are now expanding them further, particularly in secondary and 16-19 education.
- Train more teachers in these techniques by expanding the reach of Maths Hubs with more specialists overall and a targeted offer for Key Stage 3. And we will increase funding to colleges and schools so they can deliver maths to more students aged over 16, increasing the Core Maths and Advanced Maths Premium and investing in a digital platform for tutoring in core maths.
We know that a reform programme of this magnitude will require careful development, in partnership with, teachers, leaders, schools, colleges, universities, employers, students and parents, as well as the public. We will therefore consult extensively, and in detail, on the approach and design of our new qualification, as well as considering the implications for GCSEs, which play an important role in our current system.
We know that there are immediate challenges facing the system including on attendance, teacher workload and recruitment and the growing mental health challenges faced by children. Our focus on these issues will not waver, but neither can we let short-term challenges prevent us from taking bold steps that are necessary to improve attainment in post-16 and ensure that every student fulfils their potential. For our 16-19 year-olds, removing the constraints imposed by the current structure of our system will let us go further still in applying the four, simple principles that have served us so well elsewhere: evidence, high-quality teaching, knowledge-rich approaches, and a broad and balanced curriculum.
You are receiving this email because your email address is held by the Department for Education as a key contact for your educational setting.
|