As party conference season continues, read a breakdown of the debates and discussions related to education and social mobility at the Conservative Party Conference by our Communications, Research and Policy Assistant, Georgia Carter. 

This autumn the Sutton Trust will be attending all three major party conferences, and we’ll be blogging throughout, discussing each parties’ announcements on education and social mobility.  

This week the Conservative party conference took place in Manchester with education a major focus of the Prime Minister’s keynote speech.   

Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, pledged to continue to improve school standards and educational pathway choices, underlining her mission to change the way apprenticeships are viewed and her aim for them to be available for all students and all professions in the future, as an alternative to university. This is welcome but is a tall order, requiring substantial investment as well as considerable effort by both business and universities. While the big policy announcements were saved for the Prime Minister’s speech, she did announce that the government will consult on introducing minimum service levels in universities and that they will be publishing new guidance on banning mobile phone use in schools.  

In his speech, Rishi Sunak described education as “the closest thing we have to a silver bullet”, saying that it is the best economic, social and moral policy, as well as the best way to increase opportunity and prosperity. 

So, what key education reforms did the Prime Minister announce and what do they mean for improving social mobility and creating a more equitable system? 

The ‘Advanced British Standard’ 

The main announcement on education made by the Prime Minister was to bring A Levels and T Levels together under a single qualification for 16-19 year olds, the ‘Advanced British Standard’. Sunak described the new qualification as “rigorous and knowledge rich”, claiming that it will aim to achieve parity between academic and vocational education and will include compulsory literacy and numeracy skills for all students. The key principles for this new system, according to the government’s extended policy paper published shortly after the speech, are: 

  • Bringing together technical and academic routes into a single framework – students can study predominantly one or the other, or a blend of both. 
  • Increasing the number of taught hours for all students – an extra 195 hours for most students (equivalent to 2.5 hours per week). 
  • Requiring students to study Maths and English “at least at minor level”, building on the Government’s previous ‘Maths to 18’ announcements. 
  • Offering greater breadth – increasing the average number of subjects students take post-16, with a combination of ‘major’ and ‘minor’ subjects. 
  • Having a clear offer for all students – including a dedicated route for anyone working below Level 3, as well as continued availability of apprenticeships. 

The proposed new qualification is a major step in the right direction and, if implemented well, could make a real difference to social mobility in the UK. Under the current A-levels system, young people are forced to specialise very early, which often impacts the most disadvantaged young people the most as they are less likely to have access to good careers guidance or advice from family members about their next steps. The new qualification would also aim to give all students the ability to gain knowledge across a broad range of areas, further supporting their ability to make an informed decision about their future, especially for those who aspire to university.  

This will also be positive in ensuring that young people are leaving school with functional maths and English skills, helping to minimise the socio-economic attainment gaps before most young people leave the education system.  

There is, however, a question over which combination of academic and vocational subject can be studied (for example, a T Level currently equates to three A Level subjects), as well as exactly what level of maths will be available to which students, and how many will have access to a standard which can lead to further university study. 

A question of implementation: 

There is still much to be worked out, as many have highlighted, and the policy’s future is very dependent on Labour’s response and the result of the upcoming general election. One of the major points of discussion is the current teacher recruitment and retention crisis the sector is facing, with figures obtained by the National Education Union and the National Association of Head Teachers, showing that ministers are on course to miss their recruitment targets by 48% this academic year. In his speech, the Prime Minister announced an initial investment of £600 million over two years to lay the groundwork for the Advanced British Standard, which will take ten years to come to fruition. This will include funding for a tax-free bonus of up to £6,000 per year in the first five years of their career, for teachers in key shortage subjects, with FE colleges set to benefit the most. This additional funding is encouraging, especially alongside additional support for teachers employed in schools in the most deprived areas to aid in the narrowing of the attainment gap.  

It is important to ensure that these plans work to support the most disadvantaged pupils, something which the government has said it will do by allocating part of this funding boost to increasing funding for 16-19 year olds who haven’t yet met the minimum standard in English and maths, a figure which rises from one in four students overall to two in five for disadvantaged pupils.  

It is positive that the government will be taking the time to fund research and review the evidence on this. We look forward to seeing how this policy will develop, as well as engaging with the government throughout their period of consultation, to determine how best to design and implement this new qualification. It must ensure that it enables the narrowing of the attainment gap and gives disadvantaged pupils the opportunity to gain the qualifications they need to set them up well in the future.  

Whilst this was the key announcement made in the Prime Minister’s speech, he also discussed other policies which have implications for educational inequality and social mobility. 

High performing schools in deprived areas 

During his speech, the Prime Minister mentioned that some schools in the most deprived areas are achieving the best results in the country.  While there are some great examples of schools in deprived areas achieving exceptional exam results, there is still growing disparity between the most and least well of young people, as well as significant regional differences in attainment, with top grades at A-level this year falling most in the North East while they have increased most in London and the South East, in line with patterns of regional prosperity.   

Simply striving for excellence, as the PM said was the case for well performing disadvantaged schools, is clearly not enough to combat social and economic disparity. We must ensure that we do not lose sight of the significant attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their more well-off peers. The government should keep a laser-like focus on eliminating educational inequality, from the early years all the way to higher education, so that all young people can reach their full potential no matter what their postcode is.  

‘Rip off’ degrees 

The Prime Minister also used his conference speech to reiterate the announcement made in July that the government plans to crack down on ‘rip off degrees’ by asking the Office for Students to limit the number of students universities can recruit onto courses that are failing to deliver good outcomes for students.  

While it’s important that students are getting value for money, especially when the least well-off students are amounting the most debt, it is also important to remember the impact that higher education attendance can have on chances of social mobility.  

Our report, Universities and Social Mobility, found that higher education is a key driver of social mobility in this country, with low-income students becoming four times more likely to be socially mobile if they attend university. Less selective universities take on the majority of poorer students who attend university, and although they do go onto have lower graduate earnings on average than those who are able to access the top-ranking institutions, many of their graduates from poorer homes go onto achieve well in the labour market.  

Therefore, while it is important that students are able to make informed decisions about the impact of their course on their future outcomes and earnings, in relation to the cost of university, disadvantaged students should not be discouraged from attending university and the opportunity it provides to become more socially mobile. 

Overall, it was good to see education being given some priority at the conference and on the whole the announcements were positive. It remains to be seen how the PM’s promise to prioritise it in his spending reviews and budgets will play out. As we watch these plans evolve over time, it is important to continue to put disadvantaged pupils at the heart of these reforms, ensuring they work to reduce the attainment gap and offer all pupils a bright future.  

This Sunday, the Labour party conference will commence, with the Trust in attendance. As schools continue to face the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the loss of ten years of progress on the attainment gap, look out for our round-up of their announcements and key discussions next week.