New MBacc qualification to be launched in September 2024

A new suite of qualifications offering young people an alternative to university without debt will be launched in Greater Manchester in September next year.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said the Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) will be a new option for students with the opportunity to gain a degree-level education in a technical field with a path into work.

The MBacc will encompass subjects across seven sectors, guiding people toward a more technical or vocational route. It will sit alongside the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), which focuses on a traditional university pathway.

The MBacc would offer a route into the creative and digital sectors as well as health, social care and construction jobs. English and maths would still be a requirement, but so would computer science or ICT. 

Other options would include engineering, creative subjects such as art, drama and music, and the sciences. This more flexible qualification could then lead to apprenticeships, T-Levels or even a degree with costs covered by employers.

Details for the new qualification were shared by the mayor during the launch of a separate 10-year strategy to reduce violence among young people in the region.

The mayor claimed if he is re-elected for another term in office, it will be his “single top priority” and that he will be “as obsessed” with integrating technical education as he is about buses.

The move comes after Greater Manchester agreed with the government that at the next spending review in Whitehall the region will move to an approach similar to Wales or Scotland, where funding will come as block rather than being tied up in different pots.
 

Read more: Greater Manchester to get new Scotland-style funding system with more freedom over financesPublished: 14 December 2023

Mr Burnham said: “We are now going to be able as a city region to shape post-16 technical education. What I want to do is create two clear equal paths for all young people growing up in Greater Manchester.

“That will lead people towards gateways into the Greater Manchester economy at 16. I tried to find a job here 30 years ago and couldn’t and had to leave as many in my generation did.

“Kids here haven’t got a path to those skyscrapers yet in the city centre, they don’t know how to get through the door, they can’t understand precisely what the job opportunity is that might be there. This is what the MBacc is going to fix.”

He added that it could become a “superior path” to university and allow young people to study without burdening themselves with debt.

Declan Carey, Local Democracy Reporting Service