A-levels and T Levels will be scrapped, Rishi Sunak announces at Conservative Party conference

A-levels and T Levels will be scrapped and replaced with a different qualification, Rishi Sunak has announced.

The Prime Minister unveiled the huge shake-up to the UK’s education system whilst speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. He said the government will create a new school-leaver model called the “Advanced British Standard”, which will “bring together A-levels and T Levels into a new, single qualification.”

This, he continued, would see students study more subjects after the age of 16, with “some form of English and maths” also becoming compulsory until the age of 18, in a model similar to the International Baccalaureate (IB), which some pupils in the UK already take.

The Tory MP claimed the change would “finally deliver on the promise of parity of esteem between academic and technical education.” He also said his “main priority in every spending review from now on” would be education.

Sunak previously announced his intention to have all teenagers in England study some form of maths until the age of 18, saying there was a need to “reimagine our approach to numeracy” and tackle “a cultural sense that it’s okay to be bad at maths”.

Reaction to the announcement is yet to come, but some concerns were raised prior it - with critics arguing the move could cause further disruption for a generation of children who have already had to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, teacher strikes, and, more recently, worries that their school buildings could collapse due to crumbly concrete - RAAC.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly with more information.