Welsh Baccalaureate National Award 

Rationale 

University admissions officers and employers consistently look for skills, qualities and experiences beyond those accounted for in traditional qualifications when assessing applications. The Welsh Baccalaureate is designed to provide learners with opportunities to develop and demonstrate these skills and experiences in ways that will allow them to stand out in any application process and ultimately enable them to become more effective and successful individuals. 

These include academic research skills, rising to extensive team-based challenges through initiative, organisation and diplomacy, and a capacity to operate with impact in a range of roles outside a traditional classroom environment. 

Approach

Learners are supported in the development of desirable, transferable skills in the context of purposeful tasks relevant to the demands of post-school challenges. This can develop learners’ confidence, initiative, and ambition, and is preparing them to succeed beyond their time in school. Alongside the development of skills, the units provide learners with opportunities to also build on their knowledge and understanding of areas of personal or academic interest. Each unit of the course provides the flexibility for learners to specifically tailor how they work and what they do to suit their own ambitions. 

The course consists of four units:  

• An Individual Project 

•  A Community Challenge  

• A Enterprise and Employability Challenge 

•  A Global Challenge 

Assessment 

Through these units, seven skills are explicitly developed and assessed: 

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving 

• Planning and Organisation

• Creativity and Innovation 

• Personal Effectiveness 

• Literacy 

• Numeracy

• Digital Literacy 

Organisation of course 

The Course in Action 

• Examples of Individual Projects  ‘What are the primary causes of rising levels of global pollution and how is this affecting physical and psychological well-being?’ (Geography based) 

•  ‘Is an opt out organ donation programme ethically and practically superior to an opt-in system?’ (Medicine based) 

•  ‘Has the decline of religion affected family types in today’s society?’ (RE/Sociology based) 

•  ‘What factors contributed to the stock market crash of 2008 and how have countries dealt with the fall out of this differently?’ (Business Studies based) 

•  ‘How well is mental illness dealt with in the UK?’ (Psychology/medicine) 

•  ‘What are the most common injuries in contact sports, and what progress is being made into the prevention and treatment of these?’ (PE/Physiotherapy) 

•  ‘How did Gaudi’s work on conic sections lead to the unique construction of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona?’ (Maths based)

•   ‘How has the evolution of body art reflected social trends in the UK?’ (Art/Sociology based)

•   ‘What are the perceived strengths and deficiencies of the English and Welsh Legal system today?’ (Law based) 

• ‘In what ways does regular, sufficient sleep contribute to a productive lifestyle and in particular, academic success?’ (Personal interest/medicine/psychology based) 

The Community Challenge 

Learners take professional responsibility for younger students including planning and delivering sessions on an area of personal interest, managing risk factors and differentiating activities. 

The Enterprise Challenge Pupils develop, pitch and execute an innovative business idea through a series of enterprise tasks including auditing skills, allocating roles, organising and recording meetings and promotion.