Mims Davies MP shares A world-class education system: The Advanced British Standard announced by the Prime Minister - a ground-breaking new qualification for 16–19 year-olds, as well as increasing the number of subjects taken post 16.
This new baccalaureate-style qualification will fundamentally change what it means to study through to the end of mandatory education by removing the artificial separation between academic and technical options, and creating a single, unified qualification for 16–19 year-olds.
The Department for Education have made significant progress by developing new T Levels in partnership with business and employers and improving A level subject content. But they know that the traditional parallel structure of academic and technical qualifications has constraints – it limits the breadth of post-16 education and acts as a barrier to parity across different pathways. This is why we are committed to reforming our 16-19 system to enable every young person to reach their potential, drawing on the best of our existing qualifications, as well as the principles that have informed our reforms to date – a knowledge-rich, broad curriculum, excellent teaching, and a robust evidence base.
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. 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.
The Government have announced we will invest over £600 million over the next two years to pave the way for this significant change and as a down payment on our future commitment.
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 the benefit the most.
- Boost funding by £150m annually to those who do not pass maths and English GCSE at 16 to gain these qualifications.
- 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.
- Turbo-charge the best, evidence-based techniques for maths teaching ahead of the introduction of the Advanced British Standard: teaching for mastery in maths.
- 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.
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.
The government 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.
A full publication accompanying the announcement is available.
