THE number of students gaining the English Baccalaureate in Alcester has failed to make a marked increase in this, the certificate’s first year of authenticity.

The EB was introduced with the GCSE League Tables in 2010, and was retroactively applied to students who had gained grades A* to C in six GCSEs which included English, maths, two science subjects, a language, and either history or geography. However it was initially applied a full two years after those students had decided which subjects to study for GCSEs.

This year sees the first glimpse of how the certificate’s introduction has influenced students’ choice of subject for GCSE.

Alcester schools have taken to the EB with apathy. At Alcester Grammar School, the 2010 results showed that 88 per cent of students achieved the E-Bacc, compared to 80 per cent this last year. At St Benedict’s Catholic High School the number of students achieving the E-Bacc has risen dramatically from 16 per cent to 36 per cent, while at Alcester Academy the percentage has dropped from 10 per cent to six per cent.

Tim Sara, head teacher at St Benedict’s High School, said: “When we talked to the year nine parents two years ago about the EB. We said it’s not a qualification, and we are putting you under no pressure to do those subjects. We also said that what we can’t predict is whether universities or employers in future may want to look at a pupil’s CV and see whether this pupil has got the EB.

“I don’t think we have any real evidence that it has really gained any importance, and even now we haven’t changed our thinking. There’s no artistic or creative subjects in there, there’s no technology or IT. I wouldn’t say that geography is any harder or more important than RE. What I would say is they’re the traditional subjects. They’re the subjects people might have studied 40 or 50 years ago.

“I don’t necessarily think the EB will last, therefore I don’t think it’s worth setting much store by it.

“What we don’t know though, is how many parents thought they should bear in mind that the EB might be a deciding factor in the future.”

Two of the three schools have seen a year on year rise in the number of students achieving five GCSEs at grades A* to C, with a negligible drop from 81 percent to 78 percent at St Benedicts', as well as healthy Value Added scores, which measure the improvement of students from their starting point at the age of 11 to their GCSE results in leaving the school.