7. Debate on the Children, Young People and Education Committee Report: 'Bacc to the Future: The status of the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:06 pm on 3 July 2019.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 5:06, 3 July 2019

As I often say in this Chamber, universities are autonomous institutions, and that is a matter for them, and not a matter for me. But, as I said, the Welsh bac gives students a competitive advantage in being able to clearly demonstrate these skills, and I know that this point will be reinforced at the joint Seren-Oxford event that will be held at the Norwegian church this evening.

Now, just today, Deputy Presiding Officer, I have been provided with a list of selected offers from universities that the WJEC has received that included the skills challenge certificate. There are over 650 courses here, whether that's medicine at Cardiff, physics at Exeter, computer science at Edinburgh, law at Birmingham, and, just to refute the points that Michelle Brown made, which said that it is not accepted in offers for medicine, within that list there are students holding offers that include their skills challenge certificate to read medicine at Exeter, at Cardiff, at Leicester, at Manchester, at Nottingham and at Plymouth. Now, I am more than happy for my officials to brief Michelle Brown, and perhaps, when she is considering the way in which she spoke to our colleague Huw Irranca-Davies, she could reflect on her comments about the nature of the qualifications and the efforts that teachers and students have put into achieving them.

Now, moving forward, the Welsh Government, Qualifications Wales and the WJEC will continue to work with UCAS and other stakeholders to ensure that information about how universities treat the bac in their offers is systematically collated and updated, and, crucially, is made available to learners, to their parents, to their guardians, and to schools and colleges. It's important to note that the committee's review of the Welsh bac started only a few months after Qualifications Wales published its own review of the skills challenge certificate in April 2018. Now, one of the main findings of the independent review was that the design of the certificate is more complex than it needs to be. Consequently, Qualifications Wales has established a design group and practitioner group to take forward the recommendations of the review, including the manageability of the qualification and the potential impact on learners' mental health and well-being.

We will also continue to work with Qualifications Wales, the WJEC, regional consortia for schools and our FE colleges whilst the work to revise the certificate moves forward, ensuring that we are providing the support for any emerging resources, training or implications that could arise from any further changes.