Can Burnham's vision for Manchester's schools really work for the rest of England?

Can Burnham's vision for Manchester's schools really work for the rest of England?Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Burnham visited a train maunfacturing site in Derby as he set out his plans for technical educationByHazel ShearingEducation correspondentPublished6 minutes agoTwo years ago, I stood at the back of a conference room in Manchester Hall, sipping a coffee and watching Andy Burnham unveil his vision for transforming technical education in Greater Manchester.He'd announced plans for the Manchester Baccalaureate, or MBacc, the year before, and, armed with PowerPoint slides and guest speakers, was running through the ins and outs in front of a room full of education and business leaders.Now, as prime minister, Burnham has announced plans to make that idea national, and overhaul the technical education system across the whole of England.The details are still scarce at this stage. We know it will involve giving pupils the option to study more vocational courses and take up work experience from Year 10, but how it will work in practice is still up in the air.One thing that is certain is that the thinking behind it, and the ambition, is the same as that which underpins the MBacc: a determination to give teenagers a clear, step-by-step route into more practical and technical jobs.The trouble is, the MBacc itself can be quite a difficult concept to get your head around if you're not familiar with it.Let's be clear from the start: it's not another type of qualification, like the T-levels and V-levels announced in England in recent years.Instead, it's a framework that aims to give teenagers a "clear line of sight to good jobs" in vocational and technical areas.The best way to think about it is a step-by-step route - picture a flow chart - that teenagers can follow from school into any given technical career. It's set up in parallel to a more clearly defined academic route. During that conference event in July 2024,...