Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveiled the reforms, saying children should be given a clear route into work from the age of 14, which would allow pupils in England to study subjects such as manufacturing and AI alongside core academic education.
The government said the courses available from Class 10 will be linked to local jobs and industries.
Figures published earlier this year showed that more than one million young people across the UK were not in education, employment or training or “NEET” – the highest level in more than 12 years.
While the government is describing it as a “fundamental change in the education system”, there are few details behind the broader political vision.
The Association of School and College Leaders, which speaks for many secondary headteachers, said it welcomed the ambition to stop young people dropping out of education or work at the age of 16.
With schools already asked to manage on limited budgets and supporting radical reforms to cater for special educational needs, the union also said there was an issue of capacity.
Burnham said that “for too long” students had been told to take academic subjects in order to “do well and be respected”.
He said, “My message to young people is this – whether you choose building, coding or the classics, or mathematics, manufacturing or mechanics, you will get the skills you need and you will be given the respect you deserve.”
He said the government was making the “big changes” needed to fix Britain’s youth unemployment crisis, starting with improving the availability and quality of technical education.
Students will be able to combine subjects such as English and mathematics with high-quality technical education linked to jobs available in their field, the government said.
“They will be able to spend time with employers and gain real-world experience,” it says.
In an op ed article for The Times, externalBurnham wrote: “In the age of AI, practical and technical skills have not become less valuable – they have become more valuable than ever. The UK will need brilliant engineers, electricians and cyber security experts more than ever.”
The reforms, he wrote, were about helping young people “build successful working lives right from the start”.
The BBC understands the government hopes to have the new routes open in some areas by 2028.
As well as the changes in learning, Ofsted will change the way it measures performance and inspects technical education. It is unclear how this will fit with national measures designed to keep schools in line with the number of pupils taking core academic GCSEs.
