Deputy minister for skills Jeff Cuthbert has announced that traditional qualifications will remain in Wales, alongside a “more rigorous” Welsh Baccalaureate.
The decision means Wales’s education system will differ significantly from that in England, where GCSEs will be scrapped and replaced with a new O level style “EBacc”.
There are no plans to make “significant changes” to courses starting in September 2013, with the modified Welsh Bacc and new GCSEs in English, Welsh and maths (numeracy and mathematical techniques) set for launch in September 2015.
Mr Cuthbert told National Assembly members: “We will retain GCSEs and A levels. Where necessary we will strengthen and amend these, but ultimately we have confidence in these well established qualifications, which are recognised around the world.”
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