Unions and teachers call Rishi Sunak’s new education plan ‘a misdirected fantasy’

Scrapping A-levels and making English and Maths compulsory to 18 said to be unworkable due to recruitment crisis in subject areas

Heads, teaching experts and unions have slammed Rishi Sunak's plans to scrap A-levels and make Maths and English compulsory to 18 as a misdirected fantasy" that won't work because so many schools can't recruit teachers in these subjects.

Sunak, who argued in his speech to the Conservative party conference last week that reforming education was one of the biggest levers we have to change the direction of our country", plans to replace both A-levels and the government's new T-levels with a merged baccalaureate-style qualification called the Advanced British Standard.