Andy Burnham is set to unveil the biggest overhaul of education in 15 years, ending a system that prioritises preparing children for university at the expense of technical training, as he simultaneously signals a welfare crackdown on young benefit claimants.
The prime minister will announce the changes as part of a drive to tackle a “lost generation” of more than 1 million young people not in work, education or training – the highest number recorded. From the age of 14, pupils will combine English, maths and science with technical training, work experience and time spent at local employers, based on Burnham’s Greater Manchester Baccalaureate.
“Andy Burnham unveils biggest education overhaul in 15 years, ending university priority, while signalling tougher welfare conditions for young claimants.”
“For too long in this country, students have been told that you must take the academic path to do well and to be respected,” Burnham said. “From today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap.” Schools will be encouraged to tailor lessons to jobs available in their area, while Ofsted will start judging them on how well they prepare pupils for work.
The move comes as analysis reveals that a 16-year-old claiming sickness benefits for conditions such as anxiety can receive more than £100 a week – more than double the hourly equivalent of a part-time minimum wage worker. More than 87,000 16 and 17-year-olds are claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP), with two-thirds of those on the upper tier of £194 per week claiming for mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions.
Burnham told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the UK must “get really serious” about curbing the welfare bill, signalling he could tighten conditions. “It’s about changing the nature of the support and making some of it conditional on people taking opportunities that are presented,” he said. “So you might increase the conditions required to receive benefits.”
At the same time, ministers – led by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden – will press ahead with plans to offer grants to families to stop them discouraging their teenage children from becoming apprentices. Currently, parents can lose between £17 and £339 a week in child benefit if a 16 or 17-year-old in the household becomes an apprentice instead of remaining in full-time education.
The education reforms, which Burnham says will be funded by existing investment of £570m and a wider settlement increasing schools funding by £4.7bn by 2028-29, represent the biggest shift since Michael Gove’s academies and free school reforms in 2011. Former Labour minister Alan Milburn, leading a review into youth unemployment, has warned Britain risks creating a “lost generation” unless more young people are given a clearer route into work. Burnham insisted he was not blaming people already claiming, saying many young adults had been “quite seriously let down”. The final report of a disability benefits review, which will include recommendations for change, is due in the autumn.