Tollbar to abandon A-levels


February 10th, 2006
Post-16 learning will change forever in the Grimsby area as a leading sixth form scraps A-level exams.

It develops students as a whole person rather than simply concentrating on passing an ever- increasing number of exams In one of the most radical moves for teenage learners ever, North East Lincolnshire Sixth Form Partnership is dropping the traditional exams in favour of the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD).

By September 2008, 16 to 19-year-old students who study at Tollbar Business and Enterprise College and Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education will embark on the new IBD learning programme, after taking their GCSEs.

Delighted staff say it was one of the most highly-regarded qualifications internationally and a great move away from the current A-level system, which is thought by some academics to be out-dated and has been criticised for lowering standards.

IBDs are standard across the world and are becoming increasingly popular here, but the sixth form partnership is the first college in our area to adopt them.

They are more broad ranging. Under A-levels, students concentrate on studying for three or four subjects - dropping everything else.

Under IBDs, they pick three subjects to learn at a higher level and three at standard - one of those must be a foreign language.

They also take time to reflect on what they have learned and are rewarded for voluntary, community or social work they undertake.

Advocates of the IBDs say this makes the individual a much more rounded person and shows future employers and universities the personality behind the academic.

Tollbar principal David Hampson said: "We feel it offers a much better route into universities, business and commerce than A-Levels.

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