The reactions were, perhaps, all too predictable. When the Prime Minister announced bringing together A and T Levels into a single framework to create the Advanced British Standard, sector leaders responded with either glee or dismay at this supposed early end of the T level journey. The fact that the announcement was made in national T Levels Week (of all weeks) only added to the chorus of derision.
However, contrary to the sector rhetoric, the Advanced British Standard does not appear to constitute the scrapping of T Levels (or A-levels for that matter). The plan is to merge them, building on the best of both to provide greater flexibility and choice for young people. The stand-alone qualifications may disappear, as would the current either/or binary choice between technical and academic education; but the main components look like they would remain. There would still be technical cores, occupational specialisms and industry placements (Sounds like a T Level to me.) but in this framework you’d also be able to take an academic option alongside. Or vice versa.
It looks suspiciously like what they’ve been doing so well in Germany for a long time – and about time too. Now, before anyone thinks I’ve become a government spokesperson for the awfully named Advanced British Standard, I won’t get too excited until we have more detail. A lot can happen in a decade, which is how long the government has warned this would take to fully implement.
However, it is hard to argue against the principles driving these proposals. Young people should benefit from greater breadth and flexibility in 16-19 education; they should receive more teaching time; and we should ensure more of them leave education and training with a good standard of maths and English. Tick. Tick. Tick.
