Advance British Standard (ABS) consultation

At the Conservative Party Conference in October 2023, the Prime Minister announced plans to introduce a new Advance British Standard (ABS). The new Standard will aim to take the current A and T levels and bring them together into a single framework.
 
It is intended that this will offer students more choice in their post-16 education and increase the number of subjects that they study. As part of the proposal, the number of hours taught will increase and all students will study maths and English up to the age of 18. 
 
By removing the existing structures of A and T levels, the new ABS is planned to be a significant step in helping to bring parity to technical and academic qualifications; something that many in the industry have advocated for. The new standard aims to better prepare young people for employment, higher education, and life.

Consultation process 

Towards the end of 2023, the Department for Education published its formal consultation on the development of the ABS and is seeking the views of employers on a qualification.  
 
The consultation is seeking views on: 

• The aims and purposes of the ABS 
• How the ABS will look for students 
• How the ABS will be assessed and graded 
• What the ABS means for education providers 
• What the ABS means for students, other people and organisations (such as employers). 

This consultation will inform the first step in the transition to the Advanced British Standard which, it is expected, will take 10 years to fully roll out. In the meantime, A Levels and T Levels will continue to offer quality choices to young people. 
 
The ABS proposal 
As part of the new qualification students will study more subjects than they currently do with most studying three larger (what are currently being called “major”) subjects and two smaller (minor) subjects. All students will have to study maths and English as either a major or minor subject as part of their ABS.  
 
The proposal is for three ABS Options. The Standard (broadly similar to A levels, purely academic); Higher (for those wanting to study other technical or vocational subjects); Higher Occupational (broadly equivalent to the current T Levels and will have an industry placement element).

The deadline for comments is 20 March 2024. More details can be found here: ABS Consultation Document. 

The Association will respond to the consultation and will seek members’ views on the proposals. We will give further updates in future editions of the e-newsletter and are planning on circulating our own survey following the next scheduled consultation event on 31 January 2024. 

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this further, please contact Jonathan Pettit, Skills and Careers Manager.