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Education and Inspections Bill

My Lords, I support Amendment No. 103 to encourage the use of the international baccalaureate. My interest in this comes, first, from the fact that my elder son insisted on doing the international baccalaureate and it has served him very well, and secondly, and more objectively, I was a member of the European Union Select Committee’s Sub-Committee F when we examined labour mobility. It was quite striking to note that one of the obstacles for UK people with children moving into jobs in Europe was the non-recognition of the leaving exam. The international baccalaureate is the leaving examination in 124 countries and in almost all European countries. In particular I want to remind the House of the evidence of the CBI in this matter. It is on page 23 of the evidence attached to the report. The CBI points out that, "““individuals in families are more concerned about the education implications of mobility””," and that, "““many families like the opportunity to go and stay in another EU Member State, they want their children to attend a local school and acquire various language skills. They can actually see that as a very strong benefit of a relocation””." But they do not move because their children's secondary education might be undermined by having to do a different examination system. The CBI goes on to state that, "““many employees find the international baccalaureate helpful because it is broad enough and deep enough to be able to go to universities in most European countries””." Increasingly, UK universities are happy to use the international baccalaureate as an entry qualification. I think Oxford and Cambridge like it better because it is more rigorous and broader. My noble friend will know that it is also flexible enough to allow different levels of mobility within it. Today's Education Guardian says that, "““Wales has embraced the baccalaureate and is rolling out its own version””." It is not always the case that where Wales leads the UK follows, but perhaps this ought to be one of those occasions.