Is The Welsh Bac Failing?

Posted by DanielleNicole15 from Cardiff - Published on 21/07/2012 at 10:41
12 comments » - Tagged as Education, People, Topical

This article is pending translation.

The Welsh Baccalaureate, often referred to as the Welsh Bac, as the name itself takes too much exertion to say and spell.

First introduced in 2006, the Bac was primarily viewed as an extra, useful 'qualification', that many universities accept as a beneficial one. From this, an outsider of the Bac could see it to be advantageous to the average student.

From the perspective of someone who is currently doing the Bac, I despise the qualification. Okay, so some universities view it as a useful qualification. However, what schools fail to inform us is that many universities don't value it whatsoever or perhaps as only equivalent to an E grade pass.

One may suggest that the Welsh Bac offers students the chance to 'learn a number of new skills'. My response, as well as many of my peers to this statement, would be a clear, definite no. The qualification claims to develop communication skills for instance. How are we expected to develop our communication skills by having a conversation with people we see every day, about a topic that may not grab the attention of a typical pupil? Surely meeting new people from different schools and having conversations on topics of our choice would better qualify?

Fair enough, some new skills are learned from the Bac, for example British Sign Language. But many currently doing the qualification would agree that it consists of nothing other than monotonous tasks such as filling in log books, reading the odd piece of writing containing 'complex sentences' and having pointless conversations in the main.

Not only is the Bac overly tedious, but encourages youth of today to lack motivation. After doing a number of exams, one evidently would not be overly thrilled with having to complete a fortnight of Welsh Bac. It seems like a waste of time, effort and brainpower.

The Bac is currently a pass/fail qualification, leaving even the most conscientious student with a lack of incentive by to complete the qualification to more than a satisfactory level. A typical pupil who would put in minimal effort into the qualification, scraping a bare pass would get the same qualification as someone else who had put their optimum energy into the work. Surely this can't be fair?

The Bac itself shouldn't have ever been introduced. Why? Well, for a number of reasons. Firstly, because people managed to learn 'new skills' prior to the Bac. Secondly, it isn't valued highly by a number of university/employers etc. Thirdly, people have been able to easily get jobs and get into university prior to the Bac. The list goes on. So I say, what is the need in the qualification?

Then again, maybe the Bac gives us the experience of the real working life? Dreary, mind-numbing and lacking a sense of fulfilment.

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12 Comments – Post a comment

DanielleNicole15

Commented 10 months ago - 21st July 2012 - 10:50am

This wasn't my exact title for the article, but it sounds better! :)

Sam (Sub-Editor)

Commented 10 months ago - 21st July 2012 - 10:55am

I was going to go with something along the line of backfired/Bac-Fired but figured it probably wouldn't work when translated for CLIC...

DanielleNicole15

Commented 10 months ago - 21st July 2012 - 11:01am

Fair enough! I like the one you chose, it's great!

Stormer007

Commented 10 months ago - 21st July 2012 - 22:47pm

This is a great article and you make some really strong points! Nice one :)

Ihavethecyrusvirusx

Commented 10 months ago - 22nd July 2012 - 01:53am

It's compulsory that I study thus for a year in college come September. Some people love it and others detest it. The tutors say its easy, but I have no clue whatsoever as to what I'm expected to do. If its easy, I'll probably be fine with it, but if not, I'm worried that it will end up taking over my time I need for my other subjects.

My mam's friend works for RCTs Recycling and he says that he has to give some Welsh Bac students a tour of the centre... What's that got to do with anything? And I don't think he even knows... I think he just does his job, which I don't blame him.

I wish the college (or anyone) would give me (and other students) a brief of what to expect come September.

DanielleNicole15

Commented 10 months ago - 22nd July 2012 - 21:02pm

To Stormer007: Thanks! :D x

To Ihavethecyrusvirusx: Don't worry about it, I just looked at the negative side of the bac! To be honest, it is quite easy as long as you work to dead line and follow instructions from your teachers. Secondly, in answer to your question, i'm not 100% sure how that has a lot of relevance to the course itself but perhaps it has something to do with a module of the bac that i haven't done/ done differently in another school. I'm sure the college will completely inform you of what to expect from the course, I just feel strongly that there more negatives than positives about the qualification, as you can tell (:
I hope that helps! (There's no need to worry whatsoever!) :-) x

hisgirl210410

Commented 10 months ago - 23rd July 2012 - 20:04pm

I'd much rather do an extra AS level tbh x

DanielleNicole15

Commented 10 months ago - 23rd July 2012 - 22:13pm

I totally agree, or maybe even half of another subject if that makes sense!

Ihavethecyrusvirusx

Commented 10 months ago - 23rd July 2012 - 23:52pm

@daniellenicole15 thank you! I'm just really curious as to what sort of thing we are expected to do. I just hope it's actually worth doing. Apparently, the uni I'm hoping to go to highly recommends it. It's not that I'm dead against doing it, I just would like a clue about what to expect and how much it will actually benefit me. X

dirty

Commented 10 months ago - 26th July 2012 - 14:38pm

This article was really great and I enjoyed reading it. As a student who has done the Welsh Bac, I found my experience similar to the one in this article. I agree with @hisgirl210410 when she says that she would rather do an extra AS Level. I completely agree! The Welsh Bac was a painful experience

DanielleNicole15

Commented 10 months ago - 26th July 2012 - 20:18pm

Ihavethecyrusvirusx: No worries! If the uni you're hoping to go to highly recommends it, that's great! Some parts of the bac are beneficial as I mentioned, but I see more negatives to the qualification, but yeah no need to worry whatsoever! :)

Dirty: Thanks! :) And yeah an extra AS would be good...perhaps a little too much work...but yeah!