Levelling Up

Levelling Up the EBacc

A panel debate on the EBacc organised by AQi, the assessment and qualifications insight hub

Date02/02/22

AuthorJames Lloyd, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, AQA

The government’s ambition is to see 75% of pupils studying an EBacc subject combination at GCSE by 2022, and 90% by 2025.

This target reflects a belief that young people should be encouraged to take traditional, academic subjects in order to fulfil their potential and increase social mobility.

Critics have long challenged the choice of subjects in the EBacc, in particular, the exclusion of all arts subjects.

However, the government’s levelling up agenda and debate on young people’s employability has led to renewed questions about whether the EBacc is right for all students and the best way to use choices about the curriculum to improve social mobility.

This event, scheduled for Wednesday 2nd March 15:30-17:00, will explore:

Is social mobility optimised by directing students to the EBacc or allowing for a greater diversity of subjects at Key Stage 4?
To what extent does the EBacc help or hinder those students who progress on to non-academic pathways post-16? Which students are the winners and losers from the EBacc target?
Should the choice of subjects in the EBacc be reviewed?

Speakers at this event will include:

Jake Anders, Associate Professor of Quantitative Social Science, UCL Institute of Education
Julie McCulloch, Director of Policy, ASCL
Eddie Playfair, Senior Policy Manager, Association of Colleges
James Lloyd, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, AQA
Other speakers to be seen.

This event is free and open to all, but places are limited.

If you would like to attend, you can register here.

Computing

Could girls be the secret to boosting the UK’s growth as a technology superpower?

What if women played a more central role in responding to the rapid technological changes in our world? Girls in England outperform boys at every grade level but disproportionately don’t take Computer Science at GCSE.

Assessment

What can this year’s GCSE entries tell us to look for in tomorrow’s results?

With GCSE Results published on 22nd August, Dr Chinwe Njoku looks into the underlying data on what subjects this year's cohort took and how this has changed from previous years.

Assessment

A-level maths students hit six figures – what’s behind its popularity?

On Thursday, more than 100,000 A-level maths students in England will find out their results – 11.4% more than last year. Why the upturn? Dr Chinwe Njoku, AQA Education Insights Lead and former maths teacher, was heartened by the news and keen to look at the story behind the data.

Education Policy

What comes after ‘urgent’ for the new Education Secretary?

After the burning issues are addressed, what should come next for the new Education Secretary?

Education Policy

Labour’s oracy plans: They need clear goals

Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to boost students’ confidence by raising the importance of speaking skills – oracy. In this previously published blog, Reza Schwitzer, AQA’s director of external affairs, applauds the ambition but warns there needs to be clear goals

Education Policy

Through the looking glass: How polling the public can help policymakers learn about themselves

Public attitude data is key to effective policymaking. Proper polling can reveal what people think about existing policies and what they want for the future. But, if looked at from a different angle, it can also help policymakers question themselves and their assumptions about the public. In this blog, AQA’s Policy and Evidence Manager Adam Steedman-Thake, reveals the lessons he learned about himself while reading a recent public attitude survey.

Assessment

Assessing oracy: Is Comparative Judgement the answer?

Oracy skills are vital to success in school and life. And yet, for many children, opportunities to develop them are missed. Educationalists are engaging in a growing debate about where oracy fits into the school system. Labour has put it at the heart of its plans to improve social mobility and an independent commission is looking at how it is taught in the classroom. This renewed focus on oracy means it is more important than ever that teachers have a way to reliably assess and understand their students’ attainment and progression. Amanda Moorghen of oracy education charity Voice 21 explains how Comparative Judgement can help with that and why it may be a game changer.

Education

TV subtitles as an aid to literacy: What does the research say?

Jack Black is probably best known in educational circles for playing a renegade substitute teacher in School of Rock. But the Hollywood star has made a more conventional foray into education by backing the use of TV subtitles to improve child literacy. Stephen Fry and the World Literacy Foundation also want parents to use their TV remotes to get children reading. So, could this simple click of a button be a solution to boost pupils’ reading skills? AQA’s resident expert on language teaching, Dr Katy Finch, casts her eye over the research to see whether it stacks up.

Data Analysis

What is left behind now education’s Data Wave has receded?

Is data the solution to all education’s issues? About a decade ago the prevailing wisdom said it was. Advocates of this Data Wave argued that harvesting internal statistics would help schools solve issues such as teacher accountability and attainment gaps. As with all waves, after crashing onto the beach they recede, leaving space for another to roll in. In this blog, teacher, author and data analyst Richard Selfridge looks at the legacy of the Data Wave to see what schools can take from it.

International Approaches

Finland & PISA – A fall from grace but still a high performer?

Finland was once recognised as one of the most successful educational systems in the world. At the turn of the millennium, it topped the PISA rankings in reading, maths and science. But by 2012, decline set in. The last set of results showed performances in maths, reading and science were at an all-time low. In this blog Dr Jonathan Doherty of Leeds Trinity University outlines some reasons that may account for the slide.

Download a PDF version.

Download a copy of this content to your device as a PDF file. We generate PDF versions for the convenience of offline reading, but we recommend sharing this link if you'd like to send it to someone else.

Levelling Up the EBacc

Could girls be the secret to boosting the UK’s growth as a technology superpower?

What can this year’s GCSE entries tell us to look for in tomorrow’s results?

A-level maths students hit six figures – what’s behind its popularity?

What comes after ‘urgent’ for the new Education Secretary?

Labour’s oracy plans: They need clear goals

Through the looking glass: How polling the public can help policymakers learn about themselves

Assessing oracy: Is Comparative Judgement the answer?

TV subtitles as an aid to literacy: What does the research say?

What is left behind now education’s Data Wave has receded?

Finland & PISA – A fall from grace but still a high performer?

Join the conversation on Twitter

Download a PDF version.

Sign up to our newsletter