How the Advanced British Standard could improve the future for physics

In December last year, the UK government shared publicly, for the first time, the details of its proposed new qualification in England, the Advanced British Standard (ABS). It has suggested several changes to the education system, some of which we at the Institute of Physics (IOP) believe to be good ideas and some of which we think could be improved.

It is worth noting, however, that what the government shared is not the final proposal; there are still many areas that are in development and the government will hopefully be using the questions they asked in the consultation to inform this development.

Currently the ABS proposal contains two routes: one simply called ABS and one called ABS (Occupational). The existence of two distinct routes, a route that by default presents itself as the primary route by being called ABS, and an alternative, the occupational route, is itself unhelpful and warrants reconsideration.

The key points of the ABS route, which would replace A-levels, are: students will need to study maths and English in some form up until age 18; that there will be a small decrease in guided learning hours per subject; and that the number of subjects will increase to five which will comprise two minors and three majors, two of which need to be the aforementioned maths and English requirement, meaning that the combined total for guided learning hours will increase.

For the occupational route it would replace or subsume T-levels and other technical qualifications. This route will comprise a double specialism (equivalent in size to two majors in the other route), and a single specialism equivalent to one major, minors in maths and English, an industry placement, and an ‘employability, enrichment and pastoral’ module .

There were other points of interest such as the grading and assessment principles, which are included in the IOP’s full response to the consultation.

“We would prefer to see a fundamental reform of the entire education system in England.”

In preparing our response to the consultation the IOP has spoken widely with our membership and have heard from a broad range of stakeholders such as teachers, university professors, and T-level providers. The views shared with us were immensely useful and we appreciate everyone who took the time to talk to us.

So, what did we say? Our position is that the ABS proposal has some good ideas that have the potential to benefit physics and physics-related education, such as the inclusion of maths up until 18. However, we feel that if there is to be meaningful education reform, it needs to be more ambitious, holistic, and coherent than what is currently being proposed. In the current proposal, ABS, for example, is not significantly different from three A-levels and two AS-levels with the compulsory inclusion of maths and English.

We would prefer to see a fundamental reform of the entire education system in England, which in simple terms means we want: a fundamental review of the purpose of education across all phases; major reform of the national curriculum up to age 16 and for ages 16-19; the establishment of long-term mechanisms and structures to bring expertise and stability to curriculum and its reform; and a fundamental rethink of the purposes and methods of assessment at 16 and 18.

Our response is 22 pages long, and we include in more detail the specifics of how we want the above to be achieved in terms of education policy, so we strongly recommend giving it a read (PDF, 257KB).

Our next steps are going to depend on how the government responds to the consultation. This is because the Department for Education sees this reform as on a 10-year schedule. 

The IOP will therefore be looking to have conversations with politicians from across the political spectrum to ensure that whatever direction education reform takes over the next 10 years, that it is in the interests of physics, young people, the teaching profession, and our society at large.

Hari Rentala is IOP Head of Learning and Skills. Alex Heatley is IOP Policy Advisor