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Baccalaureate

A baccalaureate qualification is one which is made up of a range of different subjects or different areas of study. Many countries offer Baccalaureate qualifications and so there are a variety of qualification frameworks which share this name. Amongst existing and proposed models, UK teachers will find the following of interest:

• The Welsh Baccalaureate
• The English Baccalaureate
• The International Baccalaureate (IB)

The Welsh Baccalaureate

The Welsh Baccalaureate consists of two parts, a core compulsory part and an optional part in which student can choose their own course of studies.

The core part of the course consists of four elements

• A record of curriculum experiences including work related learning, PSHE and engagement with issues confronting Wales and Europe
• Key Skills
• Individual Investigation (which can be taken at Level 2 or 3)
• A self assessed European Language Portfolio

The optional part of the Baccalaureate can be made up of GCSE, AS, A levels, GNVQ, VCE, B.Tech and NVQ, depending on whether the qualification is being taken at intermediate level (Level 2) or advanced level (level 3)

For Further information:

• Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification

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The English Baccalaureate

There is, as yet, no specifically English Baccalaureate, but the creation of an English Baccalaureate is one of the possibilities currently under investigation by the Tomlinson review.

For Further information:

• DFES: 14 -19 Opportunity and Excellence
• Working Group on 14- 19 Reform
• Curriculum 2000 Review

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The International Baccalaureate (IB)

The IB is designed to offer students choice, but a directed choice which ensures that their studies fall across 6 main study areas. These areas are:

• Language
• Second language
• Individuals and societies
• Experimental sciences
• Mathematics and computer sciences
• The arts

These subject blocks allow for a significant range of choice as there can be up to 80 different subjects within a study area such as 'language'. Further flexibility can be built into the qualification by using the last study block to study a subject from one of the other study areas, or even to pursue a programme of study designed by the school and accredited by the IB Organisation.

As well as these 6 study areas there is also a compulsory element of the IB requiring students to study the theory of knowledge, write an extended essay and take part in activities or social programmes.

The IB offers many advantages to UK schools as it is a recognised international qualification which offers significant flexibility and rigour to students. Teaching it, however, requires significant extra curriculum time and this can have an implication for school budgets and other programmes of work related learning which the school might want to offer.

For further information

• The International Baccalaureate Organisation
• DfES - International Baccalaureate

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