English Baccalaureate

The Ebacc or English Baccalaureate 2016 Onwards

The DfE has confirmed that from 2020, 90% of students taking GCSE should take examinations in the core GCSE curriculum outlined below.

This will be mandatory for students in year 7 2015-16, but schools should move towards this over the intervening years. This is known as the English Baccalaureate.

For this reason the College has chosen to implement this new curriculum from September 2016 for students beginning GCSE courses. This refers to year 8 2015-16.

The College is not required to implement a 90% take up to the Ebacc for students in years 9, 10 and 11 2015-16 – although many already do. The proportion of students following this curriculum has risen steadily for the last 5 years at All Hallows and is already at around 60-70%.

The gradual evolution to this curriculum model is consequently a straightforward process for All Hallows.

Religious Education GCSE

All Hallows Catholic College is a Faith school in the Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury. As such GCSE Religious Education is also an expectation for every student and forms part of the core curriculum in addition to that shown in the diagram above.

The KS4 Curriculum from 2016

In practical terms this means that students beginning GCSE courses in 2016 will take the following;

90+% of students, 8 core subjects

Religious Education and Catholic Citizenship
English Language
English Literature
Mathematics
Double Science (2 GCSE)
A choice of language (from French, German, Latin, Mandarin or Spanish)
A choice of humanity (from Geography or History)

<10% of students, 6 Core Subjects

Religious Education and Catholic Citizenship
English Language
English Literature
Mathematics
Double Science (2 GCSE)

The relatively small number of students (approximately <10%) who do not follow the Ebacc curriculum in its entirety will replace one or more elements (a language and/or humanity) by BTEC qualifications in Business Studies and ICT. Students will be advised which pathway (Ebacc or not) suits them best and parents will be fully involved in this dialogue.

All Students will have one free choice from the following subjects;

Animal Care BTEC, Art, Textiles, Business Studies, Catering, Computing, Dance, Drama, Health and Social Care, ICT, Mandarin, Music, Product Design, PE, Performing Arts or Triple Science (taken as an option in conjunction with double science).

The total number of subjects studied will be nine, reflecting the greater demand on knowledge, understanding and recall in the new GCSE and BTEC specifications. The College is confident that this will provide the right balance of curriculum time needed to respond to the new demands of the GCSEs in the students’ best interests and so that they have the best opportunity to match or exceed their targets.

Please click here to view the Link to confirmation of the Ebacc 2020

All Hallows Catholic College, February 2016