Vocational and technical programmes such as Btecs, T levels and apprenticeships have been relegated to second-class status by the dominance of A levels, and these qualifications should all be combined into a single “baccalaureate”, an education think tank has said today.

In a new report, Reassessing the future, EDSK says A levels have had a detrimental effect on the “prestige” of other options available to young people - and highlights that 83 per cent of students who left school or college last year had taken A levels. The researchers say this puts vital courses such as health and social care and digital media at risk of being squeezed out of the curriculum. 

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The research also says there is a “lack of visibility” on T levels, and that, along with the government’s plans to remove funding from applied generals like Btecs, this is likely to “further entrench the unwarranted dominance of A levels”.

Call to replace Btecs and T levels with ‘baccalaureate’

It calls for A levels, Btecs, T levels and apprenticeships to be replaced by a three-year “baccalaureate” that includes all academic, applied and technical courses. 

The first three T levels were launched in September 2020 as the new “gold-standard” qualification equivalent to A levels. The qualifications have suffered a number of setbacks, including providers dropping out and concerns being raised about a lack of work placements. 

And in 2020, the government announced plans to remove funding for qualifications that overlap with A levels and T levels to “simplify” the choices for young people.

The news was met with concern across the sector. In a blog for Tes earlier this year, Pearson senior vice-president Cindy Rampersaud said that while T levels were welcome, the government should not get rid of other valuable qualifications.

‘End the political obsession with A levels’

Tom Richmond, director of EDSK and a former adviser to ministers at the Department for Education, said if the government is serious about boosting technical education, it must end the “political obsession” with A levels. 

“Previous Conservative and Labour governments have also both recognised that the dominance of A levels has undermined the prestige of applied and technical courses. If the current government is serious about boosting technical education, it must end the political obsession with A levels by introducing a ‘baccalaureate’ that creates a level playing field for a broad range of rigorous academic, applied and technical courses,” he said. 

Federation of Awarding Bodies: ‘Baccalaureate approach is not the answer’

But Tom Bewick, chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, said the last thing the sector, parents, learners and employers want right now is “another big bang reform” of the secondary education and FE skills system.

“Instead, we need to work through the reforms already in the pipeline, including ensuring that the below level 3 qualifications review does not lead to less choice for learners to progress from 2024,” he said.

“A levels are one of the most successful qualifications this country has ever seen, so simply replacing them is unlikely to attract public support, and the politicians know it. That does not mean to say that there is not an urgent debate needed about how we avoid an unnecessary binary choice at 16.

“At the moment, we have a well understood academic route post-16 and the new, as yet untried, T-level routes. In future, we need to ensure all learners are equipped with both academic and technical skills as part of a more blended approach to the curriculum. But the baccalaureate approach is not the answer.”

Reassessing the future: the recommendations

The EDSK report makes the following recommendations:

• A levels, Btecs, T levels and apprenticeships should be replaced by a three-year “baccalaureate” that includes all academic, applied and technical courses. 
• The baccalaureate will allow students to gradually specialise in their preferred subject(s) over the course of the three-year programme, with students also being able to mix-and-match academic, applied and technical courses depending on their interests.
• All students will be required to study English and maths until the age of 18, bringing the secondary education system into line with many other developed nations.
• The baccalaureate will use a single grading system for all courses (distinction-merit-pass-fail) as well as a single accountability system that measures every student’s progress in the same way, irrespective of their course choices.