The English Bacc

Oxford Home Schooling is the natural home of the new English Bacc which has been set up as the benchmark for academic achievement at age 16.

The English Bacc has a number of alternative names, the English Baccalaureate, the EBacc, or simply “the Bacc”. But the principles are simple. The student must gain at least  five GCSEs (or IGCSEs) at grade C or above in five key subjects – English, Maths, Science (x 2), a language and a humanities subject (History or Geography).

Many schools and sixth-form colleges are likely to set the Bacc as the required minimum standard for acceptance on an A-level programme, so it is an important target for all students.

All the necessary English Bacc courses are offered by Oxford Open Learning and, from June 2012, successful students will receive an English Bacc Diploma from OOL to record their achievement.

The English Bacc is open equally to schoolchildren and to the home-educated (home learners). It is independent of any particular exam board. The following general principles apply:

• It is an informal measure, so an English Bacc qualification will not be supplied by exam boards like AQA and Edexcel;
• A student needs at least five grades A*-C to get the Bacc – one each from English, Maths, Science, Humanities and Languages;
• GCSE and IGCSE count equally;
• you may mix GCSEs and IGCSEs or results in exams set by different examination boards;
• the exams do not need to be attempted at a single sitting – you can carry forward grades and opt for re-takes if necessary;
• ‘English’ means ‘English Language’, not English Literature;
• ‘Science’ means “ordinary” Science plus Additional Science or two out of three of Biology, Physics and Chemistry, i.e. two GCSEs, or just one if you take IGCSE Science (Double Award) (which is worth two);
• ‘Humanities’ is just History or Geography, at present, but other subjects may be added at a later date;
• There is a choice of French or Spanish, amongst other languages.

To gain an Oxford Home Schooling English Bacc Diploma, all subjects must be taken with Oxford Home Schooling.  Our Student Advisers will be happy to answer any further questions you may have.

Further information may be found on the AQA and Edexcel sites.