Children should be given a clearer pathway into work from the age of 14, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said as he unveils reforms that will allow pupils in England to study subjects like manufacturing and AI alongside core academic learning.
The government said the courses, available from Year 10, would be linked to local jobs and industries.
Data published earlier this year showed more than one million young people across the UK were not in education, employment or training, or “Neet” – the highest level in more than 12 years.
While the government is describing it as a “fundamental change to the education system”, there are few details behind the broad political vision.
The Association of School and College Leaders, which speaks for many secondary headteachers, said they welcomed the ambition of preventing young people falling out of education or work at 16.
With schools already asked to manage on tight budgets and support radical reforms to special educational needs, the union also said there was an issue of capacity.
Burnham said that “for too long” students had been told to take academic subjects to “do well and be respected”.
“My message to young people is this – whether you choose construction, coding or classics, or maths, manufacturing or mechanics, you’ll get the skills you need and be given the respect you deserve,” he said.
The government, he added, was delivering the “major shake-up” required to fix the youth unemployment crisis in Britain, starting with improving the availability and quality of technical education.
Pupils, the government said, would be able to combine subjects such as English and maths with high-quality technical education linked to the jobs available in their area.
“They will be able to spend time with employers and gain real-world experience,” it said.
In an Op Ed piece for the Times, external, Burnham wrote: “In the age of AI, practical and technical skills haven’t become less valuable – they’ve become more valuable than ever. Britain will need brilliant engineers, electricians and cybersecurity experts more than ever before.”
The reforms, he wrote, were about helping young people “build successful working lives from the start”.
The BBC understands that the government expects the new pathways into work to be up and running in some areas by 2028.
Along with the changes to learning, Ofsted will change the way it measures performance and will inspect for technical education. It is not clear how this will fit alongside national measures designed to hold schools to account for the number of pupils taking core academic GCSEs.
