Curriculum 2000: have changes in sixth form curricula affected students' key skills?

This study reports on a 4 year project conducted to detect any alteration to students' experience and self-confidence in key skills resulting from the introduction of Curriculum 2000. The project involved 460 first year medical students who left school before the introduction of Curriculum 2000 and 478 who had experienced the new curriculum. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire asking how often they had practiced a range of 31 key skills in the 2 years prior to university entrance and how confident they felt in their ability in each skill. Responses were compared for students with and without the Key Skills qualifications introduced in 2000 and for students without Key Skills both before and after the change to curricula. Effects of Key Skills qualifications on performance in skills-based assessments were also investigated. Around 20% of students had obtained Key Skills qualifications. Students with Key Skills had more practice in information handling and information technology skills than those without and also had increased confidence in these areas. However, no improvement in performance in assessments was observed. In fact, these students performed less well in their first assessment. There appeared to be decreased experience and confidence in Curriculum 2000 students without Key Skill qualifications compared with those from earlier years, in technical, organizational and presentation skills. This deficit was largely overcome if students possessed Key Skills qualifications. Possible reasons for these results are considered and the implications of these findings for admissions policy and course design in higher education are discussed.