Year 10 and Year 11 students at Bedales School.
BACs are courses offered in place of (I)GCSE examinations at Bedales School. Courses are internally assessed, but externally moderated and quality assured by acknowledged experts in the design and delivery of curricula in their subject area.
As part of the curriculum at Bedales, students' study five compulsory GCSE/IGCSE subjects: IGCSEs in English language, mathematics, and science (double or triple award), plus usually at least one GCSE in a modern language. Students then choose from a considerable range of BACs and other GCSEs or externally examined subjects. View the information on the structure of the year 9-11 curriculum: www.bedales.org.uk/bedales/approach-learning/years-9-11-academic-overview
The BACs are an established part of life at Bedales. Good preparation for A level and development of independent learning skills are common aims.
- Bedales Schools
BACs are awarded by the school. Authority for the award rests with the Head, who delegates oversight to the Deputy Head Academic, and other teaching staff where appropriate.
BACs are five-term courses begun at the beginning of NC Y10, with teaching completed by Easter break in NC Y11, and results available at the same time as (I)GCSEs in August of NC Y11.
Each BAC is structured in a different way, with a variety of forms of assessment, weightings, and objectives. Further information on BAC coverage is available on the school website.
Individual subject BACs’ content and assessment can also be found on the departmental pages of the school website.
BACs are awarded in the following subjects:
- Ancient Civilisations
- Art
- Dance
- Design: Fashion
- Design: Product
- Digital Game Design
- Drama
- English Literature
- Geography
- Global Awareness
- History
- Music
- Outdoor Work
- Philosophy, Religion and Ethics
- Sport Science
- Theatre Studies
All BACs are intended to be comparable in challenge to the IGCSE qualification in that subject (or analogous subjects in the case of Global Awareness and Outdoor Work).
BACs are graded according to their own assessment criteria, but follow the grading convention of GCSE, grading from 1-9. The level of attainment indicated by these is intended to be as difficult to attain as the corresponding (I)GCSE grade. The flexibility, structure, and assessment of the course is intended to ensure students are prepared for the independence of mind and intellectual depth required for A Level and beyond.
All student work, formative and summative, is internally moderated by the academic departments that teach the courses. All student coursework and examinations are moderated and endorsed by external experts including, for example, former chief examiners, those working in university education departments and subject experts from, for example, the Geographical Association.
Although timed assessments are a feature of many of our BACs, terminal assessment forms only one part of a rich diet of assessment at BAC. Across the subjects, students can expect to be assessed in ways as diverse as:
- Exam
- Controlled assessment
- Coursework essay
- Sketchbook/portfolio/ social media portfolio
- Artefact (artwork; garment; furniture; building; short story; collection of poetry; computer program; website; blog etc)
- Performance
- Viva voce/presentation
- Composition
- Collaborative project-based learning
- Independent research project
Dependent on the subject in question, all subjects incorporate a mixture of continuous, formative, and summative assessment.
No resits are available to students. In cases of student illness and absence during assessments, the school follows its special consideration procedures, which in line with JCQ guidelines involves calculating z-scores for missed work.
Students receive 140 hours of teaching for each BAC subject.
Students from Bedales will have taken BACs in some subjects instead of (I)GCSEs.
These are not accredited qualifications but are intended to be comparable in content, assessment, and grading to (I)GCSEs.
All BACs are completed by the end of the Easter term of NC Y11, and the results are published alongside (I)GCSE results in late August of each academic year.
This qualification is current.
Certificates issued by the school. Exact numbers are dependent on size of year cohort and exact number of BACs taken. 270 - 360 qualifications awarded annually in August.
Students who have been awarded BACs are prepared to study any of the wide range of 16-18 courses available in the UK and around the world and have been enabled to go on to make competitive applications to a considerable range of providers of higher education.
All student work, formative and summative, is internally moderated on a regular basis by the academic departments that teach the courses. All student coursework and examinations are moderated and endorsed by external experts from, for example, the Education Department at Cambridge University for the course in Philosophy, religion and ethics, Winchester School of Art for the art course, or by a senior figure from the Geographical Association for geography.