Royal Society president to call for independent review of post-16 education

Royal Society president and Nobel prize winner Prof Sir Venki Ramakrishnan will call for an independent review of post-16 education at the Royal Society Business Forum today.

Recent changes to A-Levels, where students will now sit all exams at the end of two years instead of throughout the course, have been dismissed as “tinkering” by Sir Venki.

"If we want our young people to be able to get good jobs, and employers to be able to hire the people they need in the future, we need to make sure our schools and colleges are teaching the skills that will be needed.

“A-levels are not doing that," the Professor is expected to say as he addresses a one-day conference of scientists, teachers and business leaders.

"We are facing a new wave of change driven by technologies such as artificial intelligence.

"Some jobs will change, some will be lost altogether and there will be many new jobs in industries that don't even exist yet.

"To prepare people for this future, we need a much more flexible education system."

Yesterday, former Tory minister Robert Halfon said GCSEs for 16-year-olds have become "pointless".

In a statement, the Department for Education said: "Our world-class A-levels were designed with direct input from subject experts and universities to ensure young people leave school with the knowledge and skills they need to go on to higher education or get a job."

From next year, T-levels, the technical equivalent of A-levels, are to be introduced.