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 workrelated 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?
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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
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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:
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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 Learning
and 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
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Further Education
Apprenticeships
Higher Education
Employment (possibly linked to an
apprenticeship or other vocationallyrelated 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