PRINCIPAL LEARNING & PROJECT

An overview

Robin Hughes & John Adamson

26 November 2010

What makes Principal Learning different?

• Principal Learning is available in Wales as an option within the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification (WBQ).

• Teaching and learning must draw from up-to-date developments within the sector.

• A minimum of 50% of all learning must be applied; Applied learning must be ‘concerned with the application of knowledge and skills through relevant work and work-related tasks, problems and contexts’ (QCA, April 2007)

• All units are mandatory – but are descriptions of skills and techniques that can be evidenced in many contexts or pathways eg Level 2 – ‘Responding to a brief’ (OCR Creative and Media).

What’s available now?

• Construction & the Built Environment • Environmental & Land-based Studies • Creative & Media • Hair & Beauty • Engineering • Hospitality • Information Technology • Manufacturing & Product Design  • Business, Administration & Finance • Society, Health & Development • More lines of learning to come in 2011 inc Sport, Retail

Size matters

• Principal Learning• Level 1 = 240 GLH (3 GCSEs at D-G)• Level 2 = 420 GLH (5 GCSEs at A*-C)• Level 3 = 540 GLH (1.5 A-Levels at A*-E)

• Projects• Foundation (L1) = (Half a GCSE at D-G)• Higher (L2) = (Half a GCSE at A*-C)• Extended (L3) = (AS Level/70 UCAS points)

What do people say about Principal Learning?

• June 2010 Chief Examiner’s Report (OCR Creative and Media specifications)

– “Candidates engaging in Principal Learning continue to be very enthusiastic and staff and candidates enjoyed their courses enormously”.

– “The challenge is to ensure that candidates cover necessary content and present work that falls within the specification requirements and for which marks can be awarded”.

Assessment

• Principal Learning is unitised.• Most units are internally assessed; some units are

externally assessed through set tasks and a visiting examiner.

• OCR-developed model assignments are available for each unit. They cover a range of disciplines and outline a scenario or brief to which learners work. Centres can contextualise scenarios and tasks to meet their local needs.

• For externally assessed units learners are given a scenario and range of briefs from which they choose one. The briefs may specify a range of constraints that learners will need to consider when planning and producing their responses.

Employer Engagement - advice to centres

• Contact your local Careers Wales advisor• Contact the relevant Sector Skills Council• Build on existing employer links• Encourage the employer to help write a ‘brief’• Remember… work experience is part of the

Welsh Bacc and principal learning must be at least 50% applied learning: employers can help bridge these two requirements.

Academic content

• Principal Learning and Project are regulated as if they are general qualifications, not vocational.

• Across the lines of learning, candidates are expected to apply skills in a number of contexts i.e. how the candidate has created a product is more important than the product itself. Capturing the whole process is essential to achieving the qualification.

• For example in Creative and Media the four skills are:– Explore– Plan– Produce– Reflect

Projects

• Not optional if you are doing Principal Learning.• Can be taken as a stand-alone qualification if

you are not doing Principal Learning.• Counts as a proxy for the Individual Investigation

part of the WBQ (as long as the standards are met) at the corresponding level.

• Contributes UCAS points at Level 3.• Style of learning ‘fits’ Principal Learning and can

be taught holistically alongside WBQ.

Why choose Principal Learningand Project?

• Principal Learning and Project:– Promotes significant work-related learning– Encourages meaningful employer engagement– Provides more than a taster of specific sectors

and disciplines but doesn’t limit opportunities– Encourages access to specialist facilities– Supports the development of transferable skills

that employers say they want

Progression

• Further Education

• Apprenticeships

• Higher Education

• Employment (possibly linked to an apprenticeship or other vocationally-related qualification)

Useful links

OCR website www.ocr.org.uk/welshbacc

Database of Approved Qualifications in Wales www.daqw.org.uk

Welsh Baccalaureate www.wbq.org.uk

The Alliance of Sector Skills Councils www.sscalliance.org