Michael Gove ‘will hear out critics of Baccalaureate’

 
diary BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 10: Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, arrives to listen to David Cameron speak to delegates on the last day of the Conservative party conference, in the International Convention Centre on October 9, 2012 in Birmingham, England. In his speech to close the annual, four-day Conservative party conference, Cameron stated "I'm not here to defend priviledge, I'm here to spread it".
Matt Cardy/Getty
Anna Davis @_annadavis6 December 2012

Education Secretary Michael Gove signalled he will listen to criticism of the English Baccalaureate exam, with which he plans to replace GCSEs, from people “of good will”.

At a select committee meeting he acknowledged that actor Jude Law and Turner Prize winner Elizabeth Price this week joined a long list of cultural figures who oppose the new qualification.

The “EBacc” will go only to teenagers who pass five academic subjects. As schools will be judged on the number of passes, there are fears that drama, music and art will suffer through concentration on academic studies.

Today, in a letter also signed by the heads of the Royal College of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, Nigel Carrington, vice-chancellor of the University of the Arts London, said squeezing art and design out of the school curriculum will damage the creative sector.

The Department for Education said: “No school will be prevented from offering qualifications in dance, art, drama or music.”

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