I hesitate to couple together Andy Burnham, our new Prime Minster, and Mrs Thatcher, one of most marmite Prime Minsters’, but they do both seem to have an interest in the role of education in preparing young people for work.
In 1982, Mrs Thatcher introduced a new scheme in what has been described in the following terms by a researcher:
The Technical Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) was intended to instil a significant element of vocational and technical education into the curricula of mainstream schools and colleges (Williams and Yeomans, 1994). It was the first major initiative by central Government in curriculum development. The pilot was announced by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons on 12th November 1982. Learning from the past Paper No. 6
The new initiative by Andy Burnham initiative is described in the following terms:
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said:
“For too long the English education system has been built around the needs of just a third [sic] of young people who go to university. That means that every year, thousands go through school without a clear path into a good career.
Our answer is the MBacc – a game-changing new plan for technical education. We’re using our devolved powers to reset the scales and give young people a clear line of sight to good jobs and the steps that will take them there.
If we don’t make this change now, it could be the single biggest barrier to future growth – and to the life chances of young people here. The needs of our economy are changing, and right now the system is not capable of keeping pace and meeting the needs of businesses or the ambitions of the next generation.”
Unlike the English Baccalaureate, which is geared towards the subjects top universities value, each MBacc gateway will guide young people to the subjects and qualifications most valued by the city-region’s employers. The gateways draw on the latest labour market data and provide a clear line of sight to high quality jobs in Greater Manchester’s growing economy. There will also be clear MBacc pathways for those who want careers in the emergency services or the Bee Network. Andy Burnham unveils plan to turbocharge growth in Greater Manchester with new technical education route, the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate – Greater Manchester Combined Authority Accessed 29th July 2026 0955
Interestingly, Burnham lists the following subject as part of the MBacc.
Engineering
Design & Technology
Business Studies
Drama
Music
Performing Arts
Regular readers of this blog will know that many of these are subjects that have difficult in recruiting new entrants into teaching. In the case of music, this is a subject where the DfE has slashed the ITT target. Engineering doesn’t have a target, so is probably in ‘other subjects’. Design and Technology is only filing its places as, like music, the target has been reduced
| Subject | Target 2026/27 | July offers | Fill: July view | July Accepted | Fill on accepted |
| Chemistry | 690 | 1460 | YES | 1302 | YES |
| Biology | 675 | 629 | PROBABLY | 466 | POSSIBLY |
| Mathematics | 2000 | 2953 | YES | 2567 | YES |
| Design & Technology | 620 | 701 | YES | 630 | YES |
| Art & Design | 605 | 709 | YES | 590 | YES |
| Geography | 685 | 549 | N | 466 | NO |
| Classics | 75 | 45 | NO | 37 | NO |
| English | 1980 | 1835 | POSSIBLY | 1535 | POSSIBLY |
| Drama | 370 | 318 | POSSIBLY | 263 | NO |
| Business Studies | 1200 | 357 | NO | 267 | NO |
| Music | 260 | 266 | YES | 220 | YES |
| Religious Education | 450 | 349 | NO | 294 | NO |
| Others | 2035 | 508 | NO | 414 | NO |
| History | 520 | 1112 | YES | 952 | YES |
| Modern Languages | 1085 | 1363 | YES | 1172 | YES |
| Physics | 810 | 1600 | YES | 1438 | YES |
| Physical Education | 655 | 1551 | YES | 1326 | YES |
| Computing | 565 | 961 | YES | 808 | YES |
Andy Burnham must be careful not to announce a policy he cannot deliver nationally without a strategy for teacher supply, otherwise the very schools he seeks to help may be the ones that cannot recruit the teachers in a market where supply nowhere near meets demand on a national scale.
Manchester is blessed, as is the North West as a whole, with more ITT places than most of the rest of England. The test of any Prime Minister is whether he can scale up a local initiative into a credible national policy? The first step would be for Lucy Powell to take ownership of the policy.
John Howson 