Should we back the bac?

In the wake of the A-level fiasco, many commentators and Estelle Morris, the Education Secretary, have said that a baccalaureate exam could be a better option. But what would the change entail, and would it really improve matters? Hilary Wilce reports

A-levels are dead. Long live the baccalaureate. What baccalaureate? Oh, any old baccalaureate, just as long as it sounds foreign and scholarly enough to get us out of the hole we're in. Such has been the fevered debate rising from the dust of the collapse of the "gold standard" of education. Suddenly the "b" word is on everybody's lips, not least those of beleaguered Education Secretary Estelle Morris, who said last week that "a sort of baccalaureate" could be in the pipeline – much to the horror of schools and colleges, which have spent two fraught years bedding in the new A-levels.

But the bac idea is not new. Twelve years ago the now schools minister David Miliband was fighting its corner, and the Government has long said it wants to broaden the scope of the education offered to 14- to 19-year-olds. Critics point out that it has failed to do this in the piecemeal curriculum reforms brought in so far, but it has been consulting on a matriculation certificate as a possible way forward. It is this embryonic idea that has been thrust blinking into the limelight by this summer's A-level fiasco. But light does not necessarily mean clarity, and in the hubbub of recent days many commentators have completely missed the point that baccalaureates come in all shapes and sizes, and that the French-style system is not at all the same thing as the International Baccalaureate, or the European Baccalaureate.

Most schools are horrified at the thought of some seismic new change just around the corner. "It would be ghastly," says Sarah Evans, the head of King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham. "To have a dramatically different model now would be so disturbing, just when the teaching profession is in crisis. People would be bound to leave." As co-chair of the joint Headmasters Conference and Girls' School Association curriculum committee, she has looked closely at baccalaureate proposals and says the GSA is in favour of breadth, but does not feel this needs to be prescriptive, or examined. With some changes, "it ought to be possible to settle for what we've got". Heads of some maintained schools and colleges, and the National Union of Teachers, have also come out in favour of keeping the status quo. "A baccalaureate is about introducing compulsory breadth. It would not solve any of the problems we have now," points out Alan Smithers, professor of education at Liverpool University and director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research, who envisages huge arguments about what would be in, and what would be out of it. "In principle we've got a good system, which allows students the opportunities to take the subjects they want, in the combinations they want."

But many, including the headteachers' associations, believe that a broader-based system is needed. Both main political parties favour versions of it, and even one of the most traditional schools in the country, Eton, says it is moving towards a baccalaureate through the back door, by offering more pick-and-mix choices to sixth formers.

The question, then, is whether any existing model points the way, or whether a new one needs to be devised. The International Baccalaureate is currently offered in just under 50 schools – roughly half private, half maintained – and generating new interest among private schools fed up with A-levels. Advocates say it is a programme that stretches students, and which universities are increasingly keen on. Students study six subjects, follow a theory-of-knowledge course, do an extended essay and community, creative and sports activities. Administered from Geneva, it is seen as above any risk of grade inflation or political interference, and students get their results at the beginning of summer, making it easier for them to plan their futures.

Against this, it can be complicated and expensive to run, some courses are idiosyncratic, and it does not suit students with a technical bent. Because of this, more schools tend to express an interest than actually go ahead with it.

"It is a terrific qualification for those who can handle the breadth," says Hugh Carson, headmaster of Malvern College, which has been running the IB alongside A-levels for 10 years. "You don't need to be particularly clever, but you do need to be organised." Because of this, he would like to see an easier version developed for less committed, or more technically inclined students.

But why create a new system, when a perfectly good one already exists? asks David Robertson, professor of public policy at Liverpool John Moores University, and a leading fan of the French Baccalaureate. This, he says, includes all students and caters for them in different academic, professional and technical streams, but in the same schools, and with a useful "fuzziness between the boundaries". It is rigorous, well marked and well regarded, and has steadily driven up standards in French schools over the past 20 years. "In my view the French system is the bac quality kite mark."

However, more interest is centering on a new home-grown model. Nineteen Welsh schools and colleges will be piloting a Welsh Baccalaureate from next year, under which students will continue to take existing academic and vocational qualifications, but also study a core of other things including Welsh studies, key skills, personal and social education, a language and community service. Schools in the programme are enthusiastic, but the Institute of Welsh Affairs has criticised the programme for hanging on to existing GCSEs, A-levels and vocational qualifications, and shying away from full reform.

Arguments such as these are bound to dog any attempt by England to follow suit. And with something that is as wide-ranging as a baccalaureate, there is a real danger of ending up with either a vast rag-bag of requirements, or a limp and uneasy compromise.

Ken Spours and Anne Hodgson, of London University's Institute of Education, have been working out detailed proposals for an English bac, and are well-aware of these pitfalls. Their system proposes a plan for all 14- to 19-year-olds, taking in existing academic and vocational qualifications, with entry, foundation and advanced level diplomas. Like the French system, it would have specialised streams, although core skills would focus less on traditional learning and more on communication, number, ICT and personal skills. Like the International Baccalaureate, it would expect advanced students to do an extended piece of independent work.

Debate and consultation is already under way, "but this is a radical change, and not something you can rush into. We're talking about building a professional consensus over 10 years," says Spours.

Meanwhile, he says, it would be madness for anyone to dash off into some other system, just because of problems with this year's A-level grades. "We've had the scary debate. Now let's have the rational one."

education@independent.co.uk

Sevenoaks School, in Kent, introduced the then-little known International Baccalaureate 25 years ago, and is now phasing out A-levels. Judging by the enthusiasm of its IB students, it is doing the right thing. They talk with animation about the breadth of their studies, and they like the extended piece of work because they can focus on something that interests them.

Tom Brougham wants to be a doctor and is writing his essay on Imperial Politics in Ancient Rome. He is studying chemistry, biology, history, maths, English and Latin, and says he feels "better educated" as a result. "If I'd done A-levels, I'd have done the three sciences and maths, but I love history. They say that the IB is a titanic amount of work, but my sister did four A-levels, and I'm sure that she did more work than I did."

Henrietta Syers, who is studying English, philosophy, biology, chemistry, French and maths, came from a neighbouring school specifically to do the IB. "I love the wide variety of subjects, and the community service." Like other pupils, she has spent time in Romania, working with children. She acknowledges the time pressures, however. "I don't know how less motivated students would handle it."

Graham Lacey, the school's director of studies and a passionate advocate of the IB, says that it is a myth that the system is only for certain kinds of student. "It's broad, balanced and coherent," he says, "and although it's an academically rigorous programme, it isn't only for the academically able."

Take your pick: four baccalaureates from around the world

The International Baccalaureate is studied in more than 100 countries. Students take six subjects, three at a higher level, and three at a lower, but must do English, maths, a science and another humanities subject. They also do a theory-of-knowledge course, a 4,000-word essay, and 150 hours of community, sports and creative activities. Run from Geneva, it is seen as above national politics. Students are awarded marks out of seven for each paper, and get a final overall score.

The French Baccalauréat is an overarching qualification with different strands for different abilities and interests. Students can follow the general academic baccalauréat, specialising in literature, economics or science; or take a specialist professional or technical Bac. All follow a core of studies including French, history, geography, a language, philosophy, maths and science. Candidates are ranked by results. All strands lead to higher education.

The European Baccalaureate is awarded by the 10 European Schools in the EU, which offer education to the children of EU staff. Students do maths, English (or a student's native language), history, a foreign language, science, geography, ethics and religion, and PE, for two thirds of the week, and elective subjects for the rest of the time. A large part of the curriculum is studied in the student's second language. Not to be confused with the Option Internationale du Baccalauréat, which is part of the French Bac for bilingual candidates.

The Welsh Baccalaureate is now being piloted in 19 schools. Students take their usual academic and vocational qualifications, but also follow a core curriculum including the study of Wales, Europe and the world, a research project, a modern-languages module, personal and social studies, community service, work-related studies and work experience.