POLICY PROPOSALS
OUR PROPOSAL
The National Baccalaureate Trust is building a grass-roots alliance to support a National Baccalaureate for England.
The report sets out the concept in detail with worked examples designed to illustrate how the Baccalaureate model could work. Our view is that this kind of fully-worked reform is needed if we are going to make a significant change to our system, based on the consensus needed to get reforms implemented in practice beyond a few niche pioneer schools.
Our proposals are exciting as well as workable and realistic as they build around ideas that are well established and do not require a full re-organisation of schools and colleges.
We propose the following six core principles to underpin the National Baccalaureate for England (NBfE).
Inclusion | Every young person is a valued member of our diverse society on an equal basis and is entitled to be equipped with the knowledge, skills and attributes required to allow them to make the maximum contribution possible.
Aspiration | Every young person is capable of significant achievements and successes in multiple domains, each of which deserves recognition as part of a broad and deep holistic education where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Challenge | The NBfE should support provision of a rigorous and demanding set of learning experiences that provide appropriate levels of challenge for all learners in their context.
Breadth | The NBfE is a framework that encompasses traditional subject disciplines in addition to an entitlement to personal development opportunities that are physical, creative and cultural and include elements of community service and extended enquiry.
Balance | A framework that embraces an appropriate degree of specialisation in technical and academic subject disciplines alongside wider personal development and extended enquiry.
Coherence | A framework that ensures every young person receives a multi-faceted education which is deeper and richer for the value given to each component and the connections made between them.
The National Baccalaureate for England should ensure young people develop a set of defined key capacities. We propose four key capacities. A baccalaureate-based programme should ensure that every young person is able to gain the knowledge, skills and personal attributes required to become:
Ambitious, knowledgeable, inquiring learners, ready to learn throughout their lives
Enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work
Responsible, principled and informed citizens of their community, England and the world
Healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society
The National Baccalaureate for England framework gives recognition to the full range of a young person’s achievements and learning experiences including formal qualifications and all aspects of their personal development.
Our proposals include some illustrative examples. Here you can see how the 14-18 Part One and Part Two combine with multiple units undertaken over four years, each of which contribute to the overall Baccalaureate. Multiple permutations of curriculum areas and unit volumes are possible.
