Review of Qualifications for 14- to 19-year-olds in Wales

In the Review of Qualifications consultation document, published on 31 May 2012, the Review Board considered that the Welsh Bac was making an important contribution to the education of over 73,000 learners in Wales. The consultation document noted that 'The Board is currently of the view that the Welsh Baccalaureate has both relevance and value, that it should be further developed and promoted, and that eventually it should be universally adopted at 14–19 across Wales.

The consultation went on to say "Feedback to the Review has been largely positive about the Welsh Baccalaureate. Stakeholders like its use of established qualifications in its options, the development of skills (including testing aspects of literacy and numeracy) in its Core, together with elements valued by employers and universities such as work experience, community participation and independent research."

Grading

The Qualifications Review Board has proposed that the Welsh Baccalaureate should be graded at the Advanced level to maintain its currency for higher education admission and to ensure that learners' differing achievements are properly recognised. The Review Board indicated that further views would be canvassed about whether the Intermediate and Foundation levels should be graded.

Current levels of achievement

Figures released by the awarding organisation WJEC in August 2012 reported that a total of 8,259 candidates were awarded the Advanced Diploma, compared with 6,948 in 2011, the highest entry to date for this qualification. This represented 83% of those who completed the course. The successful candidates achieved at least two A levels or equivalent academic or vocational qualifications, as well as meeting the requirements of the Welsh Baccalaureate Core, including gaining Essential Skills Wales (ESW, and Key Skills (KS) and personal development modules.

Having met the full range of requirements of the Core components, 8,747 or 88% of the candidates who completed the course achieved the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Core Certificate.

In 2012, a record 7,210 or 73% of candidates achieved the Welsh Baccalaureate Intermediate Diploma, compared with 67% in 2011. The number of candidates completing the programme also rose to 9,940, an increase of 3,937 or 66% on 2011. A further 990 candidates achieved the Welsh Baccalaureate Core Certificate.

At Foundation level, 3,521 candidates completed the programme, an increase of 23% compared with 2,858 last year. Of these, 2,236 or 64% achieved the Foundation Diploma, compared with 1,873 or 66% last year. A further 279 candidates achieved the Core Certificate at the Foundation level.

Academic research

Research on the Welsh Baccalaureate has been generally positive. The University of Bath were the internal evaluators and produced a number of reports evaluating the development of the Welsh Baccalaureate. A Final Report of the External Evaluation of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification (WBQ) Pilot was also carried out by the University of Nottingham. Both internal and external evaluations were largely positive, emphasising the positive impact of the Welsh Bac in broadening the learner experience.

Estyn reports on the Advanced Level (2012) and the Welsh Bac in Key Stage 4 in schools (2008, were generally positive about the impact of the qualification, although there were some concerns about the differences in quality of delivery in Welsh Bac centres.

In 2009, the Nuffield Foundation funded a Review of 14–19 Education and Training in which the Welsh Bac was praised. The report calls for a baccalaureate system for secondary schools; asks why many young people drop out of education and training in their late teens; and offers contrasts between England's approach to school reform and that which has operated in Wales since Devolution. Among the Review's recommendations was that "England should learn from the Welsh attempts to incorporate in its 'Learning Pathways' a broader and more flexible vision of progression." The Review supports the continued development of the Welsh Baccalaureate so that it becomes the organising framework for all 14 – 19 learners in Wales.^[3]

The current affairs programme 'Dragon's Eye' broadcast 1 May 2012, reported on work published by Chris Taylor and colleagues at Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) based at Cardiff University. Taylor's work suggested that the performance of Welsh Bac qualified students did not match their apparent A level points score. One explanation is that since the Welsh Bac is ungraded, students who pass it cover a wide range of abilities and ability is known to be a strong predictor of success at university. Taylor commented "This suggests that the WBQ would benefit from being graded." He added "Our findings also raise a concern about the overall quality of the WBQ and whether there are any apparent benefits of this qualification on university progress and outcomes."^[4] The conclusions in the Report were however qualified by a recognition of the limitations of the analysis. Taylor added "We would not want to argue that the WBQ is systematically worth less than an A grade at A Level. And indeed, rejecting the use of the WBQ in helping to determine entry and conditional offers ignores the 'opportunity cost' for a student of not having taken another qualification or A Level."

Following the publication of the Report, Cardiff University clarified their position regarding Welsh Baccalaureate applicants. The 2012–13 prospectus states that "Cardiff University accepts the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma for admission to all its undergraduate degree programmes. If you are taking the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma, and the University decides to make you an offer for study on any of its programme, the offer will be based on a pass in the Core plus specified grades and subjects, where applicable, in the Options."

In 2004, UCAS confirmed that the Advanced Level would attract 120 UCAS points. The 2009 Expert Group Report for Review of Award in the UCAS Tariff confirmed the award of 120 UCAS tariff points for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma.

In 2018, Welsh exams watchdog Qualifications Wales said the skills at the heart of the qualification were highly relevant for future study and employment, but that the Welsh Baccalaureate is too complex and a number of pupils, teachers and parents do not understand it.^[5]

Debate

In 2002, Colin Jenkins and John David, who developed the original Welsh Baccalaureate proposal for the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA), criticised the Welsh Bac because it did not follow their model, based on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. They said they were disappointed and considered the Welsh Bac to be "missing a huge opportunity."^[6] They considered the WBQ to be a "feeble quick fix", "not a baccalaureate", and as "Curriculum 2000 with a bit of icing". They added that the language requirement was "a waste of time."^[7]

Jane Davidson, Welsh Government Minister for Education, Lifelong Learning & Skills from 2000 to 2007, responded to the pair's criticism by stating that the Welsh Baccalaureate is "a significant innovation which will broaden students' programmes and bring coherence to them. The programme will be distinctive, modern and proudly Welsh." She explained that "The contract to design and deliver the Welsh baccalaureate was awarded following a tender process... In the event we received no tenders based on the IWA model."^[8] Jeff Jones, chair of the WJEC when it bid for and developed the WBQ, stated in 2011 that he thought at the time that the WBQ "looked like nonsense" but that the WJEC "needed the money and in any case we had to bid because we were the Welsh exam board". Jones added that the WBQ was "really an A level with a load of nonsense added on" and added: “It isn’t a proper Bac where students at 18 would still be required to study maths, English, a science and a language, not meaningless Mickey Mouse additions. What the heck is the use of ‘Wales and the World’ for a start? No wonder Russell Group universities who can get students from England with four A stars are not that interested. If I were a student I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole." The University of Leeds, which is ranked 2nd in the United Kingdom in the Russell Group, does not accept Welsh Baccalaureate. Most Welsh secondary schools mandate their 6th form students study the Welsh Baccalaureate alongside their A Level studies insisting it's a compulsory subject that "compliments" a students learning experience.^[9] However, Mr Jones' comments were challenged by David Evans, Wales Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, who said: “I am surprised Jeff Jones has come out and made these statements several years after the event. If that’s what he thought at the time, he should hang his head in shame for putting in a bid from the WJEC to run the Welsh Bac. Making these comments now smacks of scaremongering.” ^[9]