Royal Academy developing engineering A-level

Move comes as revamped engineering diploma is set to be approved

The Royal Academy of Engineering has revealed that it is developing an A-level in engineering to encourage creativity and problem-solving.

The academy has recently revamped the engineering diploma after Professor Alison Wolf's review of vocational education downgraded it to being worth one GCSE. 

Professor Matthew Harrison, the academy's director of engineering and education, told PE: “We are now also writing an A-level in engineering which is not designed to replace the advanced engineering diploma. It's just an alternative.”

“Our aim with the A-level is different. We believe there are good qualifications like the advanced diploma that can give you a theoretical grounding in engineering and we don't want to duplicate that.

“What we want to provide is an opportunity for students to take engineering maybe as a third or fourth A-level that gives them a chance to practice problem-solving and encourages creativity.” He added: “It's actually in some sense closer to art and design than the advanced engineering diploma.”

Students may take maths and physics at A-level and also do engineering with the aim that the engineering course might be a lighter option, Harrison added. “It's real engineering but it emphasises creativity,” he says. Students may ultimately take engineering in combination with art and design and computer science. “We can see students doing that who are tech-savvy – but also have this fantastic level of creativity.” 

Meanwhile the revamped, GCSE-level diploma is expected to be formally accepted by Ofqual and the government next month. It is now worth 3 GCSEs – or the equivalent of Triple Science, having been controversially downgraded to one following the Wolf review, which effectively ended it as a option for schools concerned with league table positions.

• For the full story on the revamped engineering diploma, see the forthcoming October edition of PE