Universities today cautiously welcomed plans to overhaul A-levels, saying a shake-up could help students cope better when they start degrees.
They were responding to Michael Gove’s proposed Advanced Baccalaureate which would see A-level students taking a mix of different subjects, writing an extended essay and undertaking voluntary work.
The proposed A-Bacc is in response to complaints from universities that many undergraduates are unable to keep up when they arrive after A-levels.
A spokesman for Universities UK said: “We would welcome efforts to improve skills in extended writing, critical thinking and research.” But he added: “In terms of subject choices, however, it is important to remember that there is not a magic formula to gain entry to specific university courses.”
Mark Fuller, spokesman for the 1994 Group of universities, said a new Baccalaureate could narrow the range of subjects students take and discourage those who excel in less “mainstream” areas such as computing and business.
NASUWT teachers’ union general secretary Chris Keates said: “This is another example of Michael Gove’s ideological manipulation of the school curriculum.”
Failing schools that do not improve should be handed to private companies, says a report for Conservative think tank Policy Exchange.
