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Lord Baker’s New Vision for Secondary Education: should pupils specialise at 14?

Lindsay Plumpton

By: Lindsay Plumpton

Communications Leader

Wednesday 30 January 2013

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Former education secretary Lord Baker has proposed a radical transformation of England’s education system in his new book ‘14 – 18: A New Vision for Secondary Education’. According to his vision, pupils should have the chance to specialise at 14 with the choice of 4 pathways at separate institutions, dependent on their strengths and interests.

The 4 areas include liberal arts for academic subjects, technical for specialisms such as engineering, sports and creative arts, or a career course where students would specialise in subjects such as plumbing or catering at FE colleges. He believes that pupils should continue to study core subjects such as English and maths until the age of 18, regardless of which route they take.

Lord Baker took inspiration from Austria in his vision, where students choose their route at 14; Austria currently has the lowest youth unemployment rate in the world.

What do you think? Is 14 too young to specialise? Or is this a positive way to ensure all learners can reach their potential? Do colleges currently try to cater for too big a range of students?

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