Rishi Sunak’s A-level reforms won’t be introduced for a decade, Number 10 says
It will take around a decade to introduce the baccalaureate-style education programme announced by Rishi Sunak in his conference speech, Downing Street has admitted.
In his address to the Tory Party conference in Manchester, the prime minister announced the creation of a new school-leaver qualification called the “Advanced British Standard” in England to “bring together A-levels and T-levels into a new, single qualification”.
It will see students study English and maths to age 18 – an announcement that has previously been made public.
Mr Sunak said the new system will “finally deliver on the promise of parity of esteem between academic and technical education” because “all students will sit the Advanced British Standard”.
He also said it would help “raise the floor ensuring that our children leave school literate and numerate”.
However, education unions have warned that the plans are “pie in the sky” and “are likely to prove a pipe dream” due to teacher shortages.
Former Conservative PM turns on Sunak amid HS2 backlash – Tory conference latest
Asked how long it would take for the prime minister to bring in the new system, Mr Sunak’s press secretary said: “I believe it will take about 10 years for the advanced British standard to replace A-levels.
“This is a big change to the education system, we will have to work with education experts to work it through.”
Mr Sunak had previously trailed that he wanted pupils to study maths to 18, describing it as his “new mission”.
His spokesperson confirmed the policy will be limited to England as education is a devolved matter, but added: “If the devolved administrations want to use the same standard then they can, and that would be a good thing.”
Elsewhere in his speech, the prime minister announced that sixth-form students will study five subjects rather than three and that the number of taught hours for all post-16 students will rise to at least 1,475 over two years – an extra 195 hours for most students.
Mr Sunak also repeated his plans to crack down on what he called “rip off degrees”, saying he would stop universities from “enrolling students on courses that doing nothing for their life choices”.
Read more:
Akshata Murty’s speech humanised Rishi Sunak
Buying cigarettes to become illegal at all ages eventually under PM’s plan
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What you missed from Sunak’s speech
Turning his fire on Labour, Mr Sunak said the party had created an assumption that the “only route to success” was through university and that was “one of the great mistakes of the last 30 years”.
He pointed to Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, saying she is the first ever apprentice to fulfil that post.
Mr Sunak announced an initial investment of £600m over two years to lay the groundwork for delivering the Advanced British Standard – which will include funding for tax-free bonuses of up to £30,000 over the first five years of the careers of teachers in key shortage subjects.
A consultation on how to implement the qualification will open this autumn.
‘Completely out of touch with reality’
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said that while the “principles of these proposals are good, the practicalities are daunting because of the severity of the teacher recruitment and retention crisis”.
“We’re not convinced that the prime minister’s plan for an early career bonus payment for teachers in key shortage subjects in schools and colleges will be anywhere near enough,” he added.
“Teacher shortages are widespread and very problematic in many subjects. This problem requires a much broader strategy to improve pay, conditions and education funding.
“Without this commitment, the prime minister’s plans for an Advanced British Standard are likely to prove a pipe dream.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said the announcement “raises so many questions”, while Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said Mr Sunak was “completely out of touch with reality”.
“There is no magic wand to create English and maths teachers in sufficient numbers to educate 11 to 16-year-olds, let alone at A-level too,” he added.
The proposals were described as “ambitious” by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which also warned that “policy churn” in recent years has had “its own costs, making it more difficult for schools, young people and employers to understand the value of qualifications and to navigate the system”.
The list of the top holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin has been finalized ahead of background checks to apply for a dinner and “VIP tour” with the president on May 22.
In a May 12 X post, the TRUMP memecoin project said it would stop considering additional purchases for a dinner with the president, adding that the top tokenholders had been notified to apply for background checks if they wanted to attend.
According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth roughly $174 million at the time of publication.
It’s unclear who, if any, of the wallet holders will choose to apply for and attend the dinner with Trump, or the “exclusive reception” expected to be in the White House for the top 25 holders, on May 22. A May 7 Bloomberg report suggested that the majority of tokenholders were based outside of the United States, leading to potential security concerns and conflicts of interest.
Many US lawmakers and figures in the crypto industry criticized the president for launching the memecoin just days before taking office on Jan. 20. In the wake of his dinner announcement on April 23, the calls for congressional oversight and allegations of corruption have intensified, with one senator calling for Trump’s impeachment and other representatives refusing to consider crypto-related legislation until their concerns were addressed.
Related: FT report suggests advance knowledge of Melania Trump memecoin launch
Companies also apparently seeking influence over Trump’s policies have invested in the memecoin. In April, Freight Technologies said it would invest $20 million in the token, suggesting that it could affect the president’s trade war between the US and Mexico, where the firm conducts some of its business. As of May 12, the company had not announced whether it qualified to send a representative to the dinner.
Not Trump’s first appeal to crypto users
During his 2024 campaign, Trump hosted a dinner with supporters who purchased his “mugshot” non-fungible tokens, which featured a picture of the then-presidential candidate at his surrender to authorities on charges he attempted to overturn the 2020 election.
Many of the “mugshot” attendees publicly shared their identities on social media ahead of and during the event, but at the time of publication, no one appeared to be claiming they would apply for the memecoin dinner. Wallets with the usernames “Sun” and “elon” have led to speculation that Tron founder Justin Sun and Tesla CEO Elon Musk — both Trump supporters who have financial interests tied to Trump’s presidency — could be among the attendees.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced partnerships between the city and financial firms as part of his crypto plans.
In a May 12 press conference at Gracie Mansion, the the city’s official mayoral residence, Adams said June Ou, founder of financial services company Figure, and Richie Hecker, CEO of private equity firm Traction and Scale, would be assisting the city in its crypto efforts. He spoke of Ou and Hecker acting as advisers for New York City’s next steps in “economic development and opportunities to serve the public using digital assets.”
“We are focused on the long-term values of these technologies for our city and its people, not chasing memes or trends,” said Adams, adding:
“If you’re in the crypto, blockchain, Web3 or the fintech space, New York City is open for business.”
Adams made digital assets a large part of his policy platform after assuming office in January 2022, when he announced plans to accept his first three paychecks in Bitcoin (BTC). In a 2023 financial disclosure, the mayor reported holding between $5,000 and $54,999.99 worth of Bitcoin, but suggested it was worth more in a December 2024 press conference.
Trump DOJ dismissed the corruption case against Adams
Adams had been facing corruption charges over alleged illegal donations from the Turkish government, but Justice Department officials appointed by US President Donald Trump stepped in and directed local authorities to intervene. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened, in April, and Adams traveled to the White House on May 9 to reportedly thank Trump for his “words of support” during his 2024 campaign.
Related: 8 major crypto firms announce US expansion this year
It’s unclear whether Adams’ May 12 announcement was related to his meeting with the president, who has also pushed significant policies related to digital assets since taking office. Cointelegraph reached out to the mayor’s office for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Adams announced in April that the city would be hosting its own crypto summit on May 20.
Magazine: Crypto City: Guide to New York
Politics
Minister does not rule out ‘supermax’ jails for most dangerous offenders following alleged Rudakubana attack on prison officer
“Supermax” jails could be built to house the most dangerous offenders following a spate of alleged attacks on staff, the prisons minister has said.
James Timpson told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that “we shouldn’t rule anything out” when asked if the most dangerous criminals should be placed in top security prisons.
It comes after Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water from a kettle at an officer at HMP Belmarsh on Thursday. Police are now investigating.
Politics latest: PM has undergone a ‘miraculous conversion’, say Tories
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Is the UK prison system broken?
Before that, three prison officers were also allegedly attacked by 28-year-old Hashem Abedi – the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi – with hot cooking oil and “improvised knives”, potentially made from a baking tray.
Speaking from HMP Preston for a special programme of the Politics Hub, Mr Timpson told Sophy Ridge: “We inherited a complete mess in the prison system.
“Violence is up, assaults on staff is up. But for me, we shouldn’t rule anything out.”
He added: “What we need to do is to speak to our staff. They’re the experts at dealing with these offenders day in, day out. “
Mr Timpson – who was the chief executive of Timpson Group before he was appointed prisons minister last year – said the violence in prisons was “too high”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Are we sending too many people to prison?
He continued: “The number of people when you have prisons are so full, and the people in there are not going to education or into purposeful activity.
“You get more violence and that is totally unacceptable. Our staff turn up to work to help turn people.
“They want to turn people’s lives around. They didn’t turn up to work to get assaulted. It’s totally unacceptable.”
Read more:
Should some women offenders be spared jail?
Prison officer ‘will be killed if government does not get a grip’
Reflecting on the crisis facing the UK prison system ahead of the government’s sentencing review, Mr Timpson said a major problem was the high rate of reoffending, saying “80% of offending is reoffending”.
He said people were leaving places like HMP Preston “addicted to drugs, nowhere to live, mental health problems – and that’s why they keep coming back”.
Asked whether every prison had a drugs issue, he replied: “100%.”
“If we want to keep the public safe, we need to do a lot more of the work in here and in the community. But also we need to build more prisons.”
Put to him that making more use of community sentences – thought to be one of the recommendations in the government’s sentencing review – might be considered a “cushy option” compared to a custodial sentence, Mr Timpson said: “There are some people in this prison tonight who would prefer to be in prison than do a community sentence – but that’s not everybody.
“Community sentences need to be tough punishments outside of prison, not just to help them address their offending behaviour, but also the victims need to see punishments being done too and for me, technology has a big part to play in the future.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway