Baccalaureate challenge tests pupils’ employability skills

WITH technological advances and a changing global landscape, the need for employees to adapt to the evolving workplace is more important than ever. Sara Davies, Welsh Baccalaureate officer at WJEC, discusses how the Skills Challenge Certificate, a key part of the qualification, equips pupils with the skills to thrive in the global job market.

IN A recent report by the Wales Centre for Public Policy at Cardiff University, it was suggested that skill development is crucial for future workers. Skill development is the cornerstone of the Skills Challenge Certificate, a core component of the Welsh Baccalaureate. The Skills Challenge Certificate focuses on pupils developing seven essential employability skills (literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, critical thinking and problem-solving, personal effectiveness, creativity and innovation, and planning and organising).

Pupils showcase these skills through a series of challenges which have been developed by academics and employers in collaboration with WJEC. These consist of an enterprise and employability challenge, a global citizenship challenge and a community challenge, which present pupils with real-life tasks. The breadth of each challenge allows pupils to consolidate and develop their skills in a real life setting, with the emphasis on skill advancement rather than purely theoretical knowledge.

The value placed by employers on the Skills Challenge Certificate is reflected in the number of organisations in Wales which have backed the qualification. Briefs have been developed by organisations including Dwr Cymru, Welsh Fire and Rescue Service, S4C and a range of charitable groups. For example, the National Museums of Wales task pupils with pitching new products which could be sold in a museum shop. This encourages pupils to think commercially, consider market needs and create a product to meet these demands.

As well as the challenges, pupils work on an individual project. This offers them more autonomy, with the opportunity to research any area relevant to their future education or career. Through their project, they develop and showcase skills which are attractive to universities.

Commenting on how her individual project paved the way to her studying journalism at Nottingham University, former Bishop of Llandaff School pupil Ellis Coenlin said: “I don’t think I realised how beneficial the Skills Challenge Certificate would be. This year we got to do a project on whatever we wanted – this has helped me being able to go out and talk to people, an experience I wouldn’t normally get from the classroom.”

The benefits of the Skills Challenge Certificate are also being felt by schools across Wales. Ysgol Llangynwyd headteacher Meurig Jones said: “We have invested in the Skills Challenge Certificate since the school opened. We started with the whole of Year 10 studying the subject, which has been extremely beneficial, as pupils are developing these skills and are now thinking more widely about their actions. It’s been very successful for us as a school and this qualification framework is something we have to celebrate as a country.”