The Secretary of State for Education announced today that plans for the new English Baccalaureate Certificates are being scrapped.
The new flagship qualification was intended to replace GSCEs. Students would only receive an EBacc if they passed exams across five core subject areas - maths, English, languages (ancient and modern), humanities (history or geography) and science. Music and other creative subjects were completely omitted from the list, threatening to seriously devalue their place in the curriculum.
Huge pressure has been built up by campaigners, MPs, the education sector, creative industries and the arts. The Bacc for the Future campaign gained 50,000 signatures, 120 organisations on board (including abcd), hundreds of people writing to their MPs, and over 200 world-leading design companies joining with its sister campaign #IncludeDesign. The Education Select Committee's crushing report and the letter delivered to No. 10 from 100 creative industry and education leaders (coordinated by Bacc for the Future and others) have been credited in the press as the final straws.
The campaign continues: see www.baccforthefuture.com
Posted: Thu 07th February 2013