Bacc (again) for the future

Education Secretary Michael Gove’s most recent reforms to GCSE exams are once again raising concerns among supporters of arts education. A new exam model, which uses a numbered grading system and promises more rigorous assessment criteria, has been revealed after Gove was forced to make a u-turn earlier this year over the planned EBC qualifications, which would have assessed pupil achievement and school performance based on the specific subjects included in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). Crucially this would have excluded areas of creative study such as drama, music and art. The new system now under consultation would still initially be introduced only for the EBacc subjects: English, mathematics, science, history, geography and modern and ancient languages. They would be launched in 2015 and the plans are to extend the model to other subjects the following year.
The Bacc for the Future campaign, which lobbied for the inclusion of arts in the proposed EBacc, is concerned that the initial emphasis on the same narrow range of subjects in the consultation stages may lead to the devaluation of subjects not included and are calling for genuine parity in all assessed areas. In an email to supporters, the group wrote:  “We need to make sure that by reforming these qualifications first, the Government doesn’t send mixed messages and lead to creative subjects being devalued again.”  They are also campaigning for the continuation of funding for music hubs, which has not been confirmed after 2015.