The plans for new ‘Technical levels’ fail to take into account the adverse impact of the EBacc on the curriculum and so risk failure, says Kevin Courtney

The announcement in the chancellor’s budget for a new “T level” system, overhauling how technical education is taught and administered, aims to put the courses on an equal footing with academic work.

One of the main problems to the success of any vocational education in England is the EBacc. In research commissioned by the NUT from Kings College London, 74 per cent of respondents reported that the EBacc has led to a reduction in the number of GCSE subjects on offer in schools.

The EBacc has created a special status for the more traditional academic subjects, with creative, vocational and technology subject teachers reporting a decrease in entry rates, reduced resources and less time being allocated to their subjects. At the same time classrooms have become even more focused on exam and test preparation, especially in the subjects that are most heavily weighted in the Progress 8 basket.

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