First Anthropology A-level launched

12 November 2009

A new GCE AS and A2 qualification in anthropology has been accredited by Ofqual, and will be available for teaching from September 2010. It has been developed by the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) in partnership with AQA, and will be offered and assessed by AQA.

The new GCE has been designed to give A level students a grounding in anthropology across the discipline's range – both biological and social/cultural branches – through exploration of themes such as ‘Being human', ‘Becoming a person', ‘Global and local processes' and ‘Practising anthropology'. Students taking the subject at A2 will conduct a small-scale personal investigation on a topic of their choice, and so gain a taste of real research.

Dr Mike Cresswell, AQA director general, said: "AQA is committed to providing the opportunity for breadth of study and well-rounded learning.

"We are therefore delighted to be offering this new qualification and to be working so closely with the RAI to deliver the very best support to our teachers and learners"

Hilary Callan, director of the RAI, said: "Anthropology is an inherently fascinating subject and has a natural place alongside cognate disciplines as a key part of a contemporary liberal education. Yet up to now it has been almost absent from pre-university curricula in the UK. The new GCE fills this gap. It is intellectually challenging and will demand much of students. Those taking it, whether or not they go on to study anthropology at university, will gain an understanding of human life in society, and of diverse ways of seeing the world, that will serve them well as the globally educated citizens of the future.”

The course content is the product of over 4 years' intensive work by the RAI's Education Committee, which is composed of university-based academic anthropologists and experienced A-level teachers. The project has received national support from University departments of anthropology throughout the UK; and has been funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) under its Science in Society programme.

A dedicated RAI website, Discover Anthropology, will be launched shortly and will provide learning resources as well as a communication platform for teachers interested in teaching the GCE or introducing anthropological material into their teaching generally. A teachers' networking group has also been established. For more information, or to join the expanding group, contact the RAI Education Officer on education@therai.org.uk.

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