Dramatic new report calls for EBacc to be scrapped

A new report by the major exam board Pearson(formerly EdExcel) in partnership with the education think-tank LKMco has called for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) to be scrapped. The report calls for league tables that “strike a balance between these and other valuable options, including arts subjects, and technical qualifications” and adds:

‘The Department for Education should … stop reporting schools’ performance using the EBacc performance measure.’

It goes on to warn that ‘the EBacc does not adequately capture pupils’ achievements and that this is in part due to the accountability system incentivising schools to pick certain qualifications over others.
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As The Earl of Clancarty warned in Parliament recently:

‘By including sciences but not the arts within the core subjects then, by definition, you are not facilitating a rounded or well-balanced education because you are elevating the one thing above the other.’

On top of the new report, on Wednesday the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that the creative industries made a record contribution in 2016 and are now worth £92 billion to the UK economy, more than the automotive, life sciences, aerospace, oil and gas industries combined!