14 - 19 Education

14 to 19 education is changing to give young people a wider choice of courses; allowing them to learn in a way that suits them. The reforms have been designed to ensure young people have the necessary basic skills for work and life and will include:

An entitlement for all 14 -19 year olds to have access to 14 Diplomas.

From September 2010, GCSEs in English, maths and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) will be more focused on skills that young people need for work. Coursework will be replaced by controlled assessments in most subjects.

Higher achievers will get more opportunties to show their abilty through extended projects and essays at A level. A new A* grade will also be introduced for the top performers.

A new 14 -16 programme will be developed to help those who find the mainstream curriculum unappealing and are likely to underachieve because of a lack of motivation. This will engage young people in learning by relating their learning to careers opportunities and will be supported by a new framework of qualifications at Entry and Level 1.

Raising of the "school leaving age" to 18. Young people will be required to participate in education or training until their 18th birthday.

We'll be updating the site as the reforms progress and new information