An Overview of BBC Bitesize

The BBC Bitesize service is an online support serviceMathematics and Science are still looked at in great
for children in Great Britain. It was built to aid schooldetail and are linked to other learning help.
children with their education and to help them passThe second section of the BBC Bitesize site (The
exams. The site was started in 1998 with the taglineScottish Section) is split into two parts; Standard
"Making revision easier to digest".Grades and Highers. The subjects covered are
At first BBC Bitesize only looked in to the core UKEnglish, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Physics,
subjects of Mathematics, Science and English. TheyHistory, Geography, French, Religious Studies, Modern
were chosen from the KS One, KS Two and KSStudies, Computing Studies and Sport.
Three curriculum, and also the GCSE curriculum. Later,The Highers part of the site looks at the same
a Scottish curriculum was added to the program and,subjects, but in much more detail. There is also
in recent years, the Welsh curriculum.revision materials on the subject of Scottish Gaelic,
The site utilizes revision guides, course notes, flashwhich is only available to study in Scottland. There is
games, quizzes and actors who preform for thealso a section called Gaidhlig, that Gaelic students can
children. The course notes available on the site go instudy with. Not every subject on the curriculum is
to the key facts that are needed to learn and areincluded, for example Business Management or
helped by pictures and diagrams. In addition to thisEconomics.
the BBC also sells a series of books and has a TVThe thirs section of the BBC Bitesize site (The Welsh
service, through the BBCi Red Button feature.Section) looks at four subjects. These are Biology,
The first section of the BBC Bitesize site (The EnglishChemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Welsh. There is
Section) is divided into four sections; KS One, KSalso an extra resource that is available to allow a
Two, KS Three and the GCSE part. The KS One sitenon-Welsh student to learn Welsh as another
looks at literacy and numeracy. The KS Two sitelanguage. It should benoted that the Welsh section is
looks at Mathematics, English and Science. The KSthe newest part of the site and is therefore still in
Three site looks at the same subjects as KS Twothe development stages.
just with further detail. This includes work onThere has been much criticism of the BBC Bitesize
Shakespeare, Quadratic Equations and human biology.site in spite of it being a very simple system. For
The GCSE part of the site is more complicated thanexample, rhe Computer Studies system, has been
the other three. Its covers even more subjects,said to be out of date by many experts. There is
which includes Art and Design, Design andalso a lot of criticism from Wales and Scotland that
Technology, Business Studies, German, French,their curriculums are not looked at enough. Another
Spanish, History, Geography, Music, Religious Studiescomplaint is that the use of cartoons and gaudy
and Sport. The compulsory subjects of English,imagery is patronizing to young people.