University students can start college in January as Liz Truss shakes up education
- Liz Truss pledges to interview students with straight A*s at A-level at Oxbridge
- The admission system would change so they apply after they get results
- Sixth-formers could take exams earlier or shift the university start date
- Rival Prime Minister, hopeful Rishi Sunak, also wants to transform education after 16 years
The start of the university year could be postponed to January under Liz Truss‘s planned upheaval in education.
It would be the result of the Tory the leadership favorite’s promise to automatically invite all students with A*s to an Oxford or Cambridge interview.
In order to achieve this, the admission system would have to be changed so that they apply after getting their results.
Currently, universities are making offers based on predicted A levels, with places confirmed once results are published.
Two possible options for fulfilling Miss Truss’ promise are for sixth-year students to reach A-levels earlier or for the start of the college year to move from September to January.
Liz Truss promises to automatically invite all students with A*s to an Oxford or Cambridge interview, meaning the start of the university year could be pushed back to January. Pictured: Stock image of a teacher with university students
However, the latter would mean universities in England are out of step with those in the rest of the UK and the rest of the world.
Yesterday, her rival Rishi Sunak laid out his plan to transform education after 16 years.
This includes increasing the prestige of vocational schools by creating a grouping of world-class technical colleges comparable to the Russell Group of top UK universities.
The former chancellor also wants to curb the degrees that saddle students with debt without improving their life chances.
He is also planning a new UK Baccalaureate that will require all 16-year-olds to study core subjects, including Mathematics and English, in addition to the GCSE.