Heads have reacted cautiously to Michael Gove’s plans for an English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) to replace GCSEs as England’s key qualification for 16-year-olds.
Under the proposals, pupils of all abilities will take the new qualifications, which the education secretary has said will be more rigorous and demanding. After months of speculation, Mr Gove delivered a statement to Parliament late on Monday (September 17) detailing the changes.
EBCs in the core subjects will be rolled out in 2015 with first exams in 2017. Courses in other EBacc subjects – history, geography and languages – will follow.
The new EBCs will feature one end-of-course exam, although Mr Gove said that “where individual practical work needs to be assessed we will be flexible”.
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