Everything you need to know about the Welsh Baccalaureate and how it works...
The Welsh Baccalaureate is Wales’ most controversial qualification. A report this week highlighted how some students, parents, teachers and even school leaders don’t properly understand it. Education editor ABBIE WIGHTWICK looks at what you learn and why
What is the Welsh Bacc?
The Welsh Baccalaureate is a Walesonly qualification piloted in 2003 and introduced in 2007. It was redesigned in 2015 and is delivered in schools and colleges across Wales for learners aged 14 to 19.
What’s it for?
It aims to develop skills useful for education and employment, and is studied alongside academic and vocational qualifications.
How is it awarded?
The Welsh Bacc is awarded at three levels:
1. Foundation Welsh Baccalaureate (level 1), awarded at key stage 4 or post-16;
2. National Welsh Baccalaureate (level 2), awarded at key stage 4 or post-16;
3. The Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate (level 3), awarded at post-16 only.
What grades can I get in it?
The Welsh Baccalaureate at each level is graded as a pass or fail.
Do I have to take it?
No. Although it is Welsh Government policy that all eligible learners undertake the Welsh Baccalaureate and education watchdog Estyn says it is good practice, it is not a statutory requirement.
So can I refuse?
Most schools deliver the Welsh Bacc and require their pupils do it.
So, it depends on the school or college? Yes. For example Coleg Sir Gâr says: “Level 1 and 2 learners follow a pathway dependent on what literacy and numeracy qualifications they have on enrolment. Either skills or Welsh Baccalaureate to complement their main qualification studies.
“Level 3 learners – not all courses offer Welsh Bacc, but a large number do across the college. However, if a course offers Welsh Bacc, then a learner must follow it, they can’t “opt out”.
Sounds controversial?
Yes. The UCAC teaching union recently complained some colleges are wooing sixth formers away from school with the promise they won’t have to take the Welsh Bacc post-16.
There have been various online petitions from students saying it should not be compulsory and critics have said the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate disadvantages some pupils by taking time away from working towards A-levels.
Are schools and colleges funded to deliver the Welsh Bacc? Are there penalties for not doing it? No and no. Within a programme for learning there is funding, equivalent to an A-level, for the provision of the Welsh Bacc. The Welsh Government says there are currently no specific funding incentives for schools and colleges to undertake the Welsh Bacc, nor are there penalties.
What will I have to study to get the Welsh Bacc? The Welsh Baccalaureate is an award made up of a combination of qualifications including:
1. The Skills Challenge Certificate (SCC) – the heart of the Welsh Bacc this is skills-based and aims to develop students’ skills for education, employment and life;
2. GCSEs in English or Welsh language and mathematics or mathematics-numeracy;
3. A choice of supporting qualifications of a specified size and level.
I understand GCSEs and A-levels but what’s this Skills Challenge Certificate? The Skills Challenge Certificate is at the centre of the Welsh Bacc and assesses skills for further study and employment.
It comprises four components. These four components are common to all levels and are designed to enable learners to develop skills needed for education, employment and life. How does it do that? The SCC’s four components are:
1. Individual Project (50%) aimed at developing research skills. Literacy and numeracy are developed and assessed;
2. Enterprise and Employability Challenge (20%) aimed at developing enterprising skills and attributes to enhance employability. Digital literacy, critical thinking and problem-solving are developed and assessed;
3. Global Citizenship Challenge (15%) aimed at developing knowledge and understanding of world issues. Planning, organisation, creativity and innovation are developed and assessed;
4. Community Challenge (15%). To identify and participate in community-based opportunities. Personal effectiveness is developed and assessed.
Who marks me on all this?
Students’ work for each component of the SCC is marked by teachers in schools and colleges, and after internal standardisation, a sample of work is moderated by the WJEC.
So I need GCSES and the SCC to get the Welsh Bacc then?
Yes. To be awarded the Welsh Baccalaureate, learners must achieve the SCC and the other qualifications that it specifies.
What if I haven’t got the GCSEs or A-levels specified in the other qualifications needed?
The SCC can be awarded as a qualification even if a learner does not achieve the necessary combination of qualifications to be awarded the Welsh Baccalaureate.
The SCC is equivalent in size to a GCSE (at levels 1 and 2) or an A-level (at level 3) and is graded as:
Foundation (level 1) – Pass* and Pass;
National (level 2) – A* to C; Advanced (level 3) – A* to E.
How many people take the Welsh Bacc?
WJEC entry figures for summer 2018 show 27,799 are taking the National Foundation Welsh Baccalaureate and 13,281 are taking the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate.
When did all this start?
The Welsh Baccalaureate was introduced by Wales’ then Education Secretary Jane Davidson, first piloted in 2003 and revised in 2015.
I’m busy enough with A-levels why bother with the Advanced Welsh Bacc?
Some universities, including Russell Group institutions, make offers based on the Advanced Welsh Bacc (AWBQ), others don’t and some do for some courses and not others. It is confusing and worth checking when you apply.
What about Oxbridge?
While Oxford University does not
make offers based on the AWBQ its admissions tutors have stated it is a useful qualification.
Cambridge University admissions tutors have told qualification regulator Qualifications Wales that the AWBQ gives students a good range of experiences to draw from in their entry applications and interview.
Is the AWBQ just an easy A-level equivalent then? Not according to Qualifications Wales. A spokesman said: “The Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate includes the Skills Challenge Certificate.
“Our advice to universities is that it is the same size as an A-level, has the same grading structure and attracts the same number of Ucas tariff points as an A-level for each grade.”
I don’t plan to go to university. I want to get a job. Do employers care about the Welsh Bacc? When the WJEC exam board asked a range of employers their views in 2016 they said the qualification gave young people wider skills, built confidence and meant they are “more clued up for work”.
Some said having the Welsh Bacc made learners a more attractive prospect for employers and showed their skills were wider than just academic.
Sounds like employers and universities understand the Welsh Bacc then? Um, no. Not all. Wales is hiring someone to explain its new qualifications to university admissions tutors including maths and maths numeracy GCSEs and the Welsh Bacc.