P-05-788 Remove the compulsory aspect of Welsh Baccalaureate

P-05-788 Remove the compulsory aspect of Welsh Baccalaureate

Completed

 

This petition was submitted by Katharine Drinkwater having collected 60 signatures online.

 

Petition text

We call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to remove the compulsory aspect of the Welsh Baccalaureate and review the structure of the course to ensure it is fit for purpose. Currently it includes a task that encourages underage gambling and fiscal irresponsibility.

Our children deserve the right to excel in a global arena.  Around 70% of their studies are already compulsory subjects and the Welsh Baccalaureate takes away opportunities from them as they cannot study all the subjects they want to pursue.  This 'qualification' may cater to box ticking exercises but does not help Welsh students achieve their potential (please see excerpt from a WG report that follows).  This will have a detrimental effect on the rest of their lives and future career prospects.  Give children studying in Welsh schools the same opportunities as those from the other home nations and make Welsh education something to be proud of again.

 

Additional information

The following is taken from The Welsh Governments own report into the WBQ (The Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification, January 2015) states - The findings of WISERD’s report were primarily two-fold. It concluded that the WBQ was enormously valuable in preparing young people for higher education, quite possibly due to the weighting given to it by the UCAS tariff. At the same time, the report supported a previous finding in a 2011 report specifically on Cardiff University that the WBQ Core was not equivalent to an A grade at A-level. Furthermore, it concluded that students with the WBQ were more likely to withdraw from university and less likely to achieve a ‘good degree’ which is defined as a First Class or Upper Second Class.

The report argues that these two findings may be related. It concludes that having the WBQ seems to improve the probability of getting in to university, all other things being equal; but this advantage seems to come at the expense of successful university outcomes.

 

Pupil

Pupil

 

Status

This petition was considered completed by the Petitions Committee at its meeting on 11/06/19.

The Committee considered correspondence from the WJEC and agreed to close the petition in light of the removal of the specific exercise referred to in the petition, the scrutiny of the Welsh Baccalaureate very recently carried out by the Children, Young People and Education Committee, and the Minister’s commitment to publish updated guidance on the Baccalaureate and its delivery.

Full details of the consideration of this petitions by the committee and related documents can be seen on the Meetings tab above.

It was first considered by the Petitions Committee on 05/12/2017.

 

Assembly Constituency and Region

  • Islwyn
  • South Wales East

 

Further information

Business type: Amendment

Reason considered: Senedd Business;

Status: Complete

First published: 27/11/2017