Plans to force academic or vocational choice on pupils over 16

Pupils in England will have to choose between academic or vocational qualifications after the age of 16 under plans unveiled by the government – although some business leaders are sceptical about whether the change will go ahead.

The government’s new skills plan, launched by the education minister Nick Boles, comes alongside a detailed report into technical education headed by Lord Sainsbury, which calls for the thousands of vocational and technical qualifications to be stripped away in favour of 15 “pathways”.

The government’s recent track record in educational reform has been bumpy, however, with legislation for its higher education reforms still not visible and the schools white paper appearing to be mired in post-Brexit turmoil.

The plan appears to offer little extra funding for the new system starting from 2019, which would see those wanting to go into apprenticeships or vocational training choosing one of the 15 broad skills pathways such as construction, social care or engineering after taking their GCSEs.

The division between vocation pathways and academic qualifications raised fears of an education dividing wall at the age of 16, according to the Social Market Foundation. “There is a risk that these reforms could reverse the trend of pupils taking a combination of courses rather than choosing a solely academic or technical route, with only less able pupils choosing technical courses in future,” the foundation’s director, Emran Mian, said.

The last Labour government created a new diploma in 2008 to bridge the academic-vocational divide, with the aim of it eventually replacing GCSEs and A-levels. But the qualification suffered difficulties from the beginning and attracted few takers, before being axed by Michael Gove in 2010.

Gordon Marsden, the shadow minister for further education and skills, said the Sainsbury report was detailed and thoughtful, but the 2019 timetable was “wildly optimistic”.

One of six secondary school puplis in england doesn”t have first school choice

London children see greatest challenge in securing a place at their favoured school as local authorities struggle to meet demand

The demand for state school places in England went up again this year, resulting in one in six children missing out on their first choice at secondary level, according to official figures published on Tuesday.

Government data shows the number of applications at secondary level was at its highest since 2008. In recent years, primary schools in areas of high population growth have been forced to expand rapidly, building extra classrooms and converting existing buildings to accommodate growing numbers.

Council leaders have previously warned that local authorities would struggle to create new secondary school places because of government policy restricting new schools to being academies or free schools. However, some local authorities have begun to expand their existing secondary schools, creating so called “titan schools”, to cope with growing demand.

Responding to the figures, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for education, Lucy Powell, said there were legitimate concerns about the impact of migration on the schools system.

She added, however, that fewer than 5% of new places needed were for children of EU migrants. The majority of the pressure on places is coming from a rising UK birth rate and she said the Conservatives’ “free market approach” to providing new school places was not working.

“It is time for ministers to give local areas adequate powers to plan for new places and remove the bureaucracy that councils face when it comes to opening and expanding schools,” she added.