The Department for Education has 40 civil servants working to develop prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Advanced British Standard “vanity project” even though it is unlikely to see the light of day.
Pepe Di’Iasio, incoming general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was “beyond frustrating that – at a time when recruitment, retention, funding, SEND and many other issues are under enormous pressure – there is a platoon of civil servants” having to work on the qualification.
Developing a “British baccalaureate” was a key pledge in Sunak’s leadership bid in 2022. The prime minister announced last year that his government would replace A-levels and T Levels with the qualification, which will see pupils study English and maths to 18 alongside “majors” and “minors” in other subjects.
However, the reforms are expected to take at least a decade to implement and, with the Conservatives mired in the polls and Labour focused on early maths education rather than post-16, the policy is unlikely to come to fruition.
