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Original poster

English Baccalaureate?

30 replies

crispycronut · 30/01/2014 09:42

DD is currently choosing her options so we've been sent a letter home offering the choice of the Baccalaureate and states that she has to do 5 GCSEs from set choices to qualify for entry and then get A*-C grades.

Getting the grades will be a bit of a struggle but she is on target for Bs and Cs.

The downside appears to be that she has to do French or German which she is very against.

Will the exams still contain coursework or will it be exam based at the end of the 2 years?

I've done some googling but most of it seems to be ripping into all of Goves changes rather than practical advice for parents. The school have sent limited info but seem very keen.

Will the Baccalaureate be seen as a good thing by employers or is this a faddy thing that will die a death with a new Government.

I don't want DD put under any excessive pressure if its not worth it.

I should add she's not naturally academic and if she was I would be all for it.

OP posts:
lljkk · 30/01/2014 12:53

Employer will not care.

How does Ofsted penalise schools with low EBacc scores? Are parents really bothered about them?

TalkinPeace · 30/01/2014 12:50

the Ebacc is not a recognised qualification.
One stroke of the league tables pen and it will vanish again.

Original poster
crispycronut · 30/01/2014 12:16

Thankyou, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

The school has given info but it seems very pro EBac spin, listing the massive future benefits with a recognized qualification. There is nothing about the downfalls which for DD would be the obvious and choosing subjects she has no enthusiasm for and if she failed to get a C in just one of them then i'm guessing she would fail the EBac.

We will stick to the subjects she wanted originally which are the more arty ones even though she cant draw or act!Confused

Thanks again

OP posts:
MrsBright · 30/01/2014 10:45

MrsSquirel is spot on - it's a bit of Tory led nonsense.

EBac is being driven by schools not Unis or employers. Part of the new Govian League Table data is the EBacc % (as a 'measure' of the school'soverall academic standard). This is why teachers are shovelling the myth that EBacc is a must to parents/students - purely to increase their school's EBac score.

A range of subjects at GCSE subjects is usually a wise move but, for instance, if your child isnt good at languages there is no point in sacrificing a subject where they could get a far better grade (and enjoy the subject) in favour of French just for the sake of 'EBac'.

MrsSquirrel · 30/01/2014 10:36

IMO it's a faddy thing that will die a death. If they choose subjects that they enjoy, they are more likely to do well. Does dd have any idea of what she might do after GCSEs? If she does, it might be a good idea to look at what she wants to do next and think about how to get there.

Will the exams still contain coursework or will it be exam based at the end of the 2 years? Haven't the school given you this information? How are they supposed to choose if they don't know the syllabus or how they will be assessed? If you know which exam board(s) they use, you can go to their web site and find out.

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