Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales

The Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales qualification supports you to become effective, responsible, and active citizens in a sustainable global society and in the workplace by developing Integral Skills including:

Planning and Organisation
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Creativity and Innovation
Personal Effectiveness

Building on previous achievements at Level 2 and GCSE’s, you will develop complex skills, attributes and behaviours at Level 3, which will better prepare you for future destinations, whether higher education, apprenticeships, training or employment.

You will make use of the Digital Student Course Companion – My Journey, that will be used to record your development and assessment of the Integral Skills and development of the Embedded Skills; Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy.

What will you study?

You will be provided with opportunities to practise, develop, and demonstrate these skills in different contexts as part of the programme of learning, and prior to undertaking your first assessment.

Each Integral Skill consists of a set of Specific Skills that you will develop and apply to tasks within each of the three projects. Each project will consist of several set tasks. Each task will clearly state which of the Specific Skills you will be expected to demonstrate.

The Integral Skills

Planning and Organisation

Efficiency and productivity in delivering a quality outcome depend on being organised. These skills enable you to identify, plan and carry out a project by applying a range of skills, strategies, and methods to achieve planned outcomes.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

These skills provide the tools to encourage curiosity and help learners to diagnose problems and identify possible solutions.

These skills enable you to undertake research, critically select, organise, and use information and data, relevantly apply and demonstrate understanding of any links, connections and complexities, and draw conclusions to solve complex problems.

Creativity and Innovation

Creativity opens the mind, broadens our perspective, and promotes the potential to draw out positive aspects of the individual.

These skills enable you to generate original complex ideas, carry out a practical translation of ideas to develop an outcome and justify and communicate decisions made.

Personal Effectiveness

People who understand themselves and their abilities deal better with unexpected situations, lead more fulfilling lives and have more faith and confidence in themselves, which is an essential part of success and satisfaction.

These skills enable you to get the best from yourself, creating a positive and energetic impact.

You will learn to understand and apply the principles of evaluation and review in relation to the planned outcome and your own learning and performance. In doing so, these skills will empower a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. In addition to assessing the Integral Skills, the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales qualifications also support you to develop Literacy, Numeracy and Digital skills.

Projects

You must complete three mandatory projects which provide a vehicle for you to develop, practise and demonstrate the Integral Skills through a range of contexts that are relevant and current and that will encourage you to participate in critical and civil engagement, and to consider their well-being and the well-being of others.

Global Community Project

The Global Community Project gives you the opportunity to explore a wide variety of complex and multifaceted global issues and to appreciate how global issues transcend local and national boundaries.

Through completion of the Global Community Project, you will:

evolve as an informed global citizen
draw links between local, national, and global issues
engage as an active citizen in a sustainable world and Wales.

This ability to play a role within society, as well as how to shape it with confidence is an essential skillset for everyone.

25% of the course

Future Destinations Project

You are encouraged to explore realistic employment opportunities and the potential pathways available to them. You will investigate your journey to employment alongside considering the potential health, social, and financial well-being impacts on yourself and others.

The Future Destinations Project also enables you to understand the value of collaboration to further your own thinking. You will have the opportunity to:

become self-aware by considering personal
attributes, capabilities, achievements, and well-being priorities
explore pathways to employment destinations and consider the potential impact on your own and others’ well-being
explore ways of collaborating with others to further your own thinking

25% of the course

Individual Project

The Individual Project provides opportunities for you to develop a range of research skills and is encouraged to explore a subject with an emphasis on future educational or career aspirations. The skills that you will be developing will be of great benefit to you in future higher education and employment, as well as good discussion points for interviews leading to your future destination.

In completing this project, you will:

recognise the importance that research plays in making informed decisions
be encouraged to find, evaluate, analyse, communicate and use information to solve complex problems
have the opportunity to demonstrate originality, initiative and to exercise personal responsibility

50% of the course

Grading of Projects

			Project UMS
	Maximum Raw Mark	Maximum Uniform Mark	a	b	c	d	e
Global Community Project (25%)	72	90	72	63	54	45	36
Future Destinations Project (25%)	72	90	72	63	54	45	36
Individual Project (50%)	96	180	144	126	108	90	72

Overall Grading

The overall grades for the qualification will be recorded as a grade on a scale A* to E. Results not attaining the minimum standard for the award will be reported as U (unclassified).