Provides a vehicle for Level 3 students to consolidate and progress the development of essential and employability skills.
Helps students develop skills, attributes and behaviours, and provides experiences which will enable students to prepare for university, further training or employment.
Builds on the candidate’s previous education and allows for progression along and between the chosen pathway for each individual.
The Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate is graded A*–E. In order to achieve the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate, students must achieve all four components – the Individual Project plus the three Challenges, with a minimum of all at a level 3 Pass. The grade is calculated on the basis of the aggregation of the four component scores weighted as below:
Individual Project: weighting 50%
Enterprise and Employability Challenge: weighting 20%
Global Citizenship Challenge: weighting 15%
Community Challenge: weighting 15%
The Skills Challenge Certificate components are internally assessed and externally moderated.
WJEC will moderate the Individual Project and the three Challenges separately and aggregate the results to provide an overall grade for the Skills Challenge Certificate.
Students are expected to produce evidence that illustrates the development of relevant skills, knowledge and understanding. The purpose of assessment is to ensure that effective learning has taken place in order to give students the opportunity to achieve the learning outcomes within the components.
The Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate is comparable in terms of size and challenge to a GCE A level and has a similar A*– E grading system.
The Welsh Government has worked with stakeholders to revise and strengthen the Welsh Baccalaureate and to increase its rigour. This followed recommendations from the independent Review of Qualifications and also addresses recommendations in a report the Welsh Government commissioned from Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) (2013):
http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/18417/1/130325-relationships-between-welsh-baccal…
From 2015, the reformed WBQ is being phased in as a national entitlement, which will likely result in an increase in take-up.
Within a relatively short period of time higher education admissions tutors will see a number of iterations of the Welsh Baccalaureate:
- 2014 saw the final award of the Welsh Baccalaureate that was pass grade only
- 2015 and 2016 will see the interim Welsh Baccalaureate awarded, which is graded A*–C
- 2017 onwards will see the award of the fully reformed Welsh Baccalaureate, graded A*– E
Link to Qualifications Wales website which hosts qualification and subject level principles and rules published by the Welsh Government/ Qualifications Wales:
http://www.qualificationswales.org/
Link to Welsh Government Review of Qualifications 14 –16:
http://gov.wales/topics/educationandskills/qualificationsinwales/revofq…