School diploma plan scrapped
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Government will announce the scrapping of its flagship proposal for a new diploma for all school leavers next week.
The plan, advocated by Tony Blair, was aimed at giving pupils aged 18 or 19 a certificate recording all their achievements at school – including sports achievements and community work as well as academic success.
Ministers have accepted that the proposal was flawed and will instead announce the setting up of a task force that will investigate an English-style baccalaureate system. The task force will be chaired by Mike Tomlinson, the former chief schools inspector who headed the inquiry into last summer's A-level results fiasco. It will include university and employer representatives to ensure its recommendations gain respect.
The "matriculation diploma" was opposed by headteachers who said it had little support from universities or industries. They also disliked the proposal for three separate tiers of diploma, with high-flyers rewarded with a higher-level certificate, arguing that employers would consider the rest to be failures.
David Miliband, the School Standards minister, will unveil the Government's proposals at a conference organised by headteachers and college principals on Tuesday.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments