Andy Burnham's plan to boost technical education contradicts Labour's new Schools Act, the Conservative Party claims. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

In his last speech as Labour leader, Keir Starmer called for a fundamental shift in English education, scrapping the 50% university target and replacing it with an ambition for two-thirds of children to go to university or take a gold standard apprenticeship.

Andy Burnham, in a Times article, wrote: "For too long, we've built an education system around the idea that there's only one route to success: university, a degree, a desk. But somewhere along the way, we sent another message too: that if your ambition was to do something that required more technical skills, somehow you were aiming lower. I think that was one of the biggest mistakes this country has made. In the age of AI, practical and technical skills haven't become less valuable — they've become more valuable than ever. Britain will need brilliant engineers, electricians and cybersecurity experts more than ever before."

Burnham's plan proposes that from age 14, children will have a new option in school: keeping core maths, English and science, but combining them with hands-on technical education, including work experience and connections with local employers.

However, shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: "We all want to see better opportunities for young people and a boost to technical education, but this announcement is all over the place. Labour have literally just legislated to strip schools of their freedom to choose what's best for the pupils they're teaching, yet now they imply it should be locally tailored. It's not clear whether or not Labour intends to replace GCSEs, which would be a disaster. The focus should be on the knowledge rich curriculum that has helped the most deprived children."

Burnham links the need for better vocational education with his belief in localism. In his Times article, he says: "These new [technical education] routes won't be designed by Westminster. They'll be shaped by the people and places they serve. Working with mayors, local leaders, employers and schools, we'll identify the industries driving growth in local areas and make sure that local kids have a clear route into them."

The government news release contains almost 20 endorsements from mayors, business groups, union leaders and others. But the Conservative Party does not back it.

Today at 9:30am, Kemi Badenoch holds a press conference, challenging Burnham to introduce emergency legislation to exclude serious offenders from the prisoner early release scheme due to start in autumn. Burnham is on a visit in Derbyshire, where he will speak to the media. At noon, Labour's national executive committee meets, with new party chair Bridget Phillipson attending. At 2pm, education secretary Lucy Powell is interviewed by Matt Chorley on Radio 5 Live.