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Liz Truss could move the start of the university year to January if she becomes PM

She wants all pupils who get straight A*s to be given an Oxbridge interview


Liz Truss could move the start of the university year to January if she becomes Prime Minister, The Telegraph reports.

This comes as Rishi Sunak sets out his own plan for education, pledging to crack down on so-called “Mickey Mouse degrees”.

In the next month, Conservative members will vote on whether Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak should become leader of the Tory Party and the country.

Liz Truss, the favourite to win, said that if she gets the top job, she’ll ensure that all pupils who receive A*s at A-Level will get an interview at Oxford University or Cambridge University.

If this happens, the whole university admissions system would have to change dramatically.

Currently, unis make offers to students based on predicted grades, confirming pupils’ places when they receive their exam results in August.

Under Truss’s proposed system, either students would have to sit A-Levels earlier in the year, or the start date for university would be pushed to January, to allow time for the interview process.

This would mean that UK universities would operate on different academic calendars to the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, in the other camp, Rishi Sunak has promised to clamp down on degrees that he believes don’t improve the life chances of students.

He also wants to introduce a British Baccalaureate that would require all students to study English and Maths beyond GCSE level.

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