Regarding the new government announcement about scrapping A-levels in favour of a baccalaureate-style qualification, the idea of broadening educational experience in the 16-18 age group seems potentially beneficial at first glance; however I would first explore whether this could be achieved within the existing A-level framework, or something similar.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that the government said that ‘A levels were broken’ and needed to be overhauled with new improved A levels; it was certainly within the lifetime of the current political leadership, accompanied by a whirlwind of educational changes at all levels. And it was within the last two decades that a similar idea to the current plan was touted, and taken to an advanced stage, with the Tomlinson report of 2004 and its key idea of replacing A-levels with a diploma. This idea was scrapped before it could achieve fruition, hinting at a rather disjointed long-term strategy for education.
As regards maths to 18, it’s good to promote maths and challenge the preconceptions that drag the economy down, as well as dragging life chances down; however I am concerned that the idea of more maths for another two years is simplistic and inappropriate. The focus should be on improving the quality of maths education further down, rather than building a new extension on to shaky foundations. If a broader diploma-style education is to be considered, simply extending the often negative experiences of many students regarding maths for two more years should be avoided at all costs. Appropriateness to pathways of study is key, so perhaps we could work towards a broader acceptance of what could be regarded as a valuable ‘mathsy-sciency’ module and how it could be tailored to different routes.
This will not be an easy thing to design and implement, and there is a strong chance of U-turn or dilution before it ever becomes reality. I wouldn’t throw away those old A-level books yet!