Rishi Sunak is considering a major reform of A-levels in England which could see the introduction of a new “British baccalaureate”.
The prime minister’s plans could include the compulsory study of maths and English up to the age of 18, according to newspaper reports.
The shake-up of A-levels would be controversial - but no final decision has been taken.
Labour said the proposals were an “undeliverable gimmick”.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The government has denied that Mr Sunak is trying to find radical proposals which will help his party in the polls, with No 10 saying this week that the prime minister is focused on long-term solutions.
Mr Sunak initially suggested the idea of a new baccalaureate qualification during his unsuccessful leadership campaign against Liz Truss last year, and has previously said he wants all young people to study maths to 18.
Andrew Mitchell, who attends Cabinet in his role as a Foreign Office minister, said he expects Mr Sunak to agree to a significant reform of England’s education system.
David Robinson, director for post-16 and skills at the Education Policy Institute, said steps to broaden the curriculum were “encouraging”, but added that it would cause an increase in workload for teachers.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, called it a “sketchy proposal” and said teaching was already facing a “recruitment and retention crisis”.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson accused Mr Sunak of “pursuing short-term headlines” with an “unworkable policy”.
The original article contains 535 words, the summary contains 172 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!