AQA Awards Over 800 English Baccalaureates

21 August 2008

845 AQA Baccalaureates are today being awarded by England’s leading awarding body.

The new “AQA Bacc” is intended to recognise and celebrate the achievements of students who have studied A-levels and demonstrated a gift for wider learning and personal development.

The awards being made today are for students who took part in a pilot. From September, over 100 centres will offer the AQA Bacc to their students.

Mike Cresswell, Director General AQA said:

“AQA is delighted to offer this innovative qualification to schools and colleges from this September. The AQA Bacc, which has A-levels at its core, recognises students’ achievements in both academic study and wider learning and personal development.

Because it is based on A-levels, any school or college can make it available to students who wish to have the breadth of their learning formally certificated. We believe the AQA Bacc will greatly enhance young people’s opportunities and success in further education and employment.”

Bacc Students study three A-levels and a further paper in critical thinking, citizenship or general studies. They also write an extended essay, project or thesis designed to show the important skills of self-management, planning, research and presentation, as well as their ability to develop an argument and their writing skills. Students must also complete at least 100 hours of other personal development activity, work-related experience or community work.

With highly competitive environments for employment and higher education, the AQA Bacc gives students the opportunity to stand out from the crowd, by completing a qualification based on GCE A-levels to achieve a grade of Pass, Merit or Distinction.

Peter Avery – Principal at Richard Huish College in Taunton which took the enrichment part of the AQA Bacc this year said:

“We set great store by the contribution that enrichment makes to the personal development of young people and the AQA Bacc recognises and rewards the enrichment work that our students are undertaking. It also helps to quantify the contribution that they make to their communities and so helps to redress the often negative press that young people receive.”

Franklin College in Grimsby is an open access Sixth Form College, preparing students in North East Lincolnshire for higher education and employment.

David Whittaker, Deputy Principal for Curriculum and Quality said; “We are delighted that, in this pilot year, over 80 Franklin College students have been awarded the AQA Baccalaureate. The students were all keen to respond to the challenge of demonstrating their ability to study in depth and breadth through their specialist A-level programme but also accrediting their achievements in the community and personal development.

“The AQA Bacc has provided the framework for them to do this. I believe it will help them to perform effectively in Higher Education and that it will increase their future employability. All staff at Franklin College are passionate about developing young people with the qualifications and skills needed to serve others throughout their lives and to become effective leaders and followers. The College has expanded its range of enrichment opportunities for students including international challenges. For next year, students will be able participate in links with Germany, France, Spain, Ghana and Poland.

“In the future, we expect that more and more young people will follow the example set by these students. All those who have achieved the AQA Bacc have demonstrated considerable all round ability and skills. We are very proud of them all, but we must especially congratulate those who have a 'merit' or 'distinction' - these are outstanding performances by any national or international standards.”

Students at The Sixth Form College Farnborough were the first to be awarded the AQA Bacc. Dr John Guy, Principal of The Sixth Form College said:

“The AQA Bacc reflects not only students’ A-level performance but also their research and writing skills, as demonstrated by the Extended Project, their more general education reported through Citizenship, General Studies or Critical Thinking, and also their wider activities reported in the Transcript of Enrichment. It is by embracing all these aspects of their sixth form studies that the Bacc begins truly to reflect the breadth and depth of a challenging sixth form curriculum.”

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