I think it is premature to make a judgment on whether the leveling system has improved or not. The game is hardly out, and there is going to be tons of balancing. To be clear, I enjoy everyone's thoughts on it all, but trying to reduce the whole system into either "YES GOOD" or "NO BAD" is way too oversimplifying something pretty complex, and in the case of Bannerlord, something we do not have a lot of experience with.
I think, as a starting point, Bannerlord's system is better than where Mount&Blade's was at release, even taking into consideration the team is larger, how long Bannerlord has spent in development, and other real life factors.
To dig into that statement a bit more, I'll start with the negatives. I think a lot of what I dislike about the current system can be adjusted just through improving the rate at which you gain XP in different skills. For example, even though I spent focus points on trading, and many fewer on riding, my riding skill seems far too low compared to my high trade skill. This, combined with the fact that all my companions can use better horses, and a faction has a tendency to snowball, makes me feel a bit off about things.
To say it another way, in certain ways the progress of my character feels both too fast, and too slow, and the progress in the state of the world feels far too fast in how quickly one faction can dominate. This overall gives a first impression that seems negative, but when I realize how early we are in EA, how much balancing remains to be done, and how well I've enjoyed myself despite these issues, I come away from things fairly optimistic.
Back to the leveling system-- overall, I think the Focus and Attribute systems changing how fast you gain XP is neat since it gives a bit more choice and weight behind leveling up. Mount&Blade felt very "I stab people so my stabbing is better", and the current system seems a bit more in depth. As for the "skill caps" on leveling imposed by these systems, I am unsure. I will reserve judgment on "GAME GOOD" or "BAD GAME" til I've played more and we see how EA shakes out over the coming weeks and months.