
We want to equip young people with the skills they will need for wider life, the workplace and for life-long learning.
To achieve this we need to change how 14-19 education currently operates in England. Our curriculum is too narrow with little opportunity to explore technical subjects or develop essential skills, our assessment system incentivises knowledge-recall over deeper learning, and accountability measures have created a high-pressure environment for over-worked school leaders.
We are therefore calling for a broad and balanced curriculum, supported by a multimodal assessment system. A model we would support to deliver this is a baccalaureate programme and so we welcomed the Government’s plan to deliver the Advanced British Standard.
Scroll down to see our work on baccalaureates, the ABS, and wider 14-19 education.
A baccalaureate for England?
Explore our work looking at what a baccalaureate system may look like in England.
A baccalaureate would allow young people to develop knowledge and skills across a range of disciplines to best prepare them for work and life - a truly broad and balanced approach.
We therefore welcomed the Government’s intention to introduce a baccalaureate programme in England called the Advanced British Standard.

You can
- Explore our ‘Bacc to the drawing board’ website page to watch our webinar and read our reports on a baccalaureate.
- Read about our work around the Advanced British Standard from our response to the initial announcement to our ABS consultation submission. Along the way, we also polled the public to understand more about what they think of the ABS and 16-19 education.
Explore our wider work on secondary education, including assessment and accountability...
