Research on curriculum and assessment design and pedagogy in the Curriculum for Wales: government response

On 17July 2025, Welsh Government published the Government Social Research (GSR) report, developed by the University of Stirling and Arad Research, Curriculum and assessment design and pedagogy in the Curriculum for Wales: a qualitative study. This report is part of the formative evaluation of the Curriculum for Wales, a multi-year study which will provide us with a broad qualitative and quantitative picture of how the reforms are working, how practice is changing and how these changes are being experienced by senior leaders, practitioners, learners and their families.

A summary of the report’s findings has been published. The study sought to understand how curriculum and assessment design and pedagogy is being realised in practice, as well as how settings and practitioners are being supported in these areas.

Whilst there are limitations to the study (including that the sample of schools involved is small and self-selecting and thus the findings are not generalisable), the report offers rich insights to help the Welsh Government’s development and prioritisation of support to practitioners in the continued realisation of Curriculum for Wales. 

We are pleased that the report highlights that all schools within the sample are undertaking a systematic curriculum-making process, with a specific process that includes a focus on the knowledge, skills and experiences that enable their learners to progress towards the four purposes.

The report also notes the pedagogical approaches schools are taking, for example, many schools using the pedagogical principles to guide planning, and an increased emphasis on authentic and purposeful learning experiences. It is encouraging that some practitioners had been involved in professional learning about research-informed pedagogical approaches.

The report highlights that, overall, the schools involved are noticing that learners are generally more engaged and take greater ownership of learning. For some schools, the curriculum is building stronger community ties, with an emphasis on cynefin. This is enabling practitioners to support learning that increasingly meets the needs of their learners and context.

The findings indicate that some schools in the study had made fewer changes to their approaches to teaching literacy and numeracy, due to a perception that innovation carries risks and that there are concerns about potential negative impacts of innovative practice on attainment.

We note that the report also highlights concerns about the risk of widening inequalities, the continuing impact of Covid-19, and the cost-of-living crisis on effective implementation.

With regards to assessment, we note the report has highlighted that most of the schools used a blend of formative and summative assessments, and while peer and self-assessment were common, more traditional forms of testing also continue to be used, in some cases because of accountability pressures. Secondary schools involved in the study reported more challenges than primary schools aligning assessment with Curriculum for Wales and in relation to new qualifications.

The Welsh Government recognises the time and effort that leaders and practitioners are investing in curriculum realisation. The successes and challenges highlighted in this report reflect what practitioners have been telling us, including through the National Network for Curriculum Implementation and the Curriculum for Wales Policy Group.

We want to support practitioners in Wales to be lifelong professional learners that enhance their own practice to motivate and inspire the children and young people in their schools.

In 2019 we introduced an additional training day to support practitioners to prepare for the Curriculum for Wales. This additional training day has been provided for the past six years, and we have announced our intention to continue to provide an additional training day for the 2025 to 2026 academic year.

During the summer and autumn terms we will undertake a comprehensive evaluation of in-service training (INSET), including discussion with learners and practitioners, to better understand the impact of INSET on the education of our learners and in providing supportive conditions for our practitioners. This work will inform our longer-term Strategic Education Workforce Plan.

In recent years we have invested nearly £35 million annually in professional learning for our school practitioners. This has included £12 million of funding direct to schools alongside funding for national programmes to develop our practitioners as enquirers and to improve understanding of the pedagogical principles.

We have also recently re-developed our National Professional Qualification for Headship to ensure that it is preparing our future headteachers in line with our education reforms.

Responding to concerns about the consistency and quality of professional learning, we have announced that we are establishing a national professional learning and leadership body which will be taking this work forward from September 2025 to lead on the delivery of national, consistent professional learning to support practitioners along their career pathways. Significant progress has been made in the establishing of the new body. It will also develop a range of leadership professional learning opportunities to support our leaders and provide professional learning to school improvement advisors.

Also developed to address quality and consistency of support is our programme of national support for curriculum and assessment design, providing clarity and a nationally consistent approach. This is building on the progress schools have already made and existing, effective support in the system. We welcome the support indicated in the report for the Curriculum Design pilot, the national support programme builds on the pilot and is available to more schools. To ensure greater clarity, this has included bringing together guidance and supporting materials into one, easily accessible place, supported by expert delivery and one to one coaching for school leaders.

Developed through the national support programme, these tools and templates model processes for school-level curriculum development, including additional detail on progression and assessment and what this looks like in practice. We are considering how further tools and templates can support schools to assess learning and evaluate progress over time with greater clarity and in a way that can be shared across schools.

This ensures we are providing national support for schools on the key issues of progression, assessment, and curriculum design, that includes intensive, targeted, and nationally available collaborative support. This will be extended to include nationally available professional learning to support literacy and numeracy.

The report also raises the critical importance of cluster working. This is a central part of our approach to school improvement and the work of the Education Improvement Team is designed to support and model this. School-to-school working is a critical part of our approach to the School Improvement Partnership Programme.

The report suggests that the Welsh Government should consider whether the assessment system (especially secondary education qualifications) is appropriately aligned with the aspirations of Curriculum for Wales. A range of evidence, including messages direct from the profession, have repeatedly demonstrated that conflating learner assessment with school accountability has unintended consequences in classrooms. It has previously resulted in a narrowing of the curriculum and more importantly, risks the wellbeing of our learners. Our ongoing reforms are responding to this evidence, and we will continue to ensure that data related to our schools, including data from assessments, is used well both to inform education policy and support the development of each learner. .

We acknowledge that qualifications can have a significant impact on learning and teaching. Qualifications Wales have led a significant programme of reform of national 14 to 16 qualifications. During this process Qualifications Wales has balanced the need for the reformed qualifications to reflect the curriculum, while at the same time recognising the importance of qualifications for 16-year-old learners for their next steps in education or employment, and the associated need for these qualifications to have currency and portability beyond Wales.

Following consultation in 2019, Qualifications Wales took the decision to retain the GCSE brand for pre-16 general qualifications. GCSE qualifications are a shared brand across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the qualifications in the three countries share many common features, including their size, purpose, the levels they cover on qualification frameworks (levels 1 and 2) and the requirement to have an element of external assessment. Therefore, although there are some differences in the detail of the content, structure and assessment methods used within GCSEs, the qualifications in the three countries retain equivalence.

Of course, the curriculum will continue to evolve as part of an ongoing cycle of review and refinement. As part of this process, we will consider the role of qualifications and work with Qualifications Wales on how national 14 to 16 qualifications may evolve in future to remain aligned with and support the Curriculum for Wales.

We recognise that secondary schools need support and guidance introducing new qualifications and have sought to address this through professional learning and resources. Following the publication of our 14 to 16 learning guidance, we published a guide to the successful use of qualification specifications.

Many of the issues raised in this report were also directly addressed by our 14 to 16 leadership events which took place across Wales from February to April 2025, attended by over 500 secondary school leaders.

We will continue to work with practitioners and other partners to provide support for curriculum and assessment design and pedagogy and to ensure the best possible education for every child in Wales.