Revised professional standards: impact assessment

The Welsh Government is proposing that revised professional standards for assisting teaching, teaching, in school leadership, headship and system leadership should be introduced on 1 September 2026. Alongside this, work will be progressing so that revised professional standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) will be introduced on 1 September 2027.

The revised professional standards will apply to all practitioners in schools in Wales who are working in an education role.

The current professional standards have been in place in Wales since 2017. Since their introduction, the education landscape in Wales has changed significantly. The impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic, the ambitious reform agenda for education in Wales (including Curriculum for Wales and Additional Learning Needs reform), the publication of Review of Roles and Responsibilities of Education Partners in Wales and Delivery of School Improvement Arrangements in January 2024, the publication of updated School Improvement Guidance in January 2026 and the publication of the Strategic Education Workforce Plan for Schools in March 2026 have meant that expectations on the school workforce have changed. It is clear, almost ten years on from their implementation, that the current professional standards are now variable in terms of their fitness for purpose and relevance to the current priorities for education in Wales.

The roles and responsibilities of teachers, headteachers and teaching assistants have also seen significant changes over the past decade. Education and society have experienced considerable changes, prompting the need to think about the effects of changes on the teaching profession. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) project, conducted research in Wales during 2023 and 2024, on New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching. This report has provided important evidence in enabling Welsh Government to understand the changing nature of teaching, both within Wales and internationally, and the new priorities for the future workforce.

The ultimate purpose of developing revised professional standards is to support the education workforce who are employed in schools. The revised standards also aim to improve outcomes for all learners to ensure that they are able to meet their full potential and achieve the four purposes as set out in Curriculum for Wales and are supported to be:

• Ambitious, capable learners 
• Enterprising, creative contributors 
• Ethical, informed citizens 
• Healthy, confident individuals

Long term

The revised professional standards have been developed in collaboration with a wide range of practitioners and key stakeholders from across Wales to ensure that the revised standards meet the needs of practitioners within the current education landscape, but also underpin an education system that is fit for the future.

The long-term vision for education in Wales is focused on the following areas:

• raising standards
• supporting the workforce
• strengthening skills
• building an education system that works for all

Evidence from OECD work on the future of teaching and professionalism highlights the need for more flexible, career-long professional development approaches.

The education reform agenda aims to improve the education system for all learners through the success of Curriculum for Wales and an ambitious programme of ALN reform. Highly skilled and supported practitioners are key to the long-term success of these reforms.

The Welsh Government also has long-terms national ambitions in relation to subjects like an anti-racist Wales, Cymraeg 2050 and the well-being of future generations. 

The professional standards have been designed to fully align with these priorities and ensure that practitioners have the skills to continue to develop as individuals and support their learners. The standards also aim to address the specific issues for practitioners in relation to recruitment and retention, workload and well-being by providing a clear and coherent framework to support their practice.

Prevention

The professional standards directly address the equity and inclusion of all learners in Wales, looking specifically at how practitioners can continue to develop as professionals and access effective professional learning, to ensure that all learners in our schools in Wales are supported to reach their full potential. The standards have a strong focus on the importance of community engagement and working with multiple agencies to ensure that learners and their families are able to access the range of wider support that they need.

The professional standards aim to support all aspects of a practitioner’s role and provide a clear and coherent framework to ensure that they continue to develop and improve. This approach also aims to increase recruitment and retention by providing practitioners with a clear, supportive structure throughout their careers and to help them to navigate the career choices that are most appropriate for them as a professional. 

The standards will help address the underlying cause of variation in practice and system coherence by strengthening expectations and shared language across the education workforce and embedding reflective practice and professional accountability. They will provide a clear framework to assist in more effective management of workload and help set professional expectations for all practitioners.

The standards are explicitly designed to avoid increasing workload and function as part of natural professional dialogue, not additional bureaucracy. The approach utilising the digital platform Hwb will minimise resource use and improves accessibility for all users. Ongoing work around the digital functionality will help ensure a high standard of accessibility and usability and clarity of both Welsh and English language considerations.

Integration

The proposal to introduce revised professional standards aligns strongly with wider Welsh Government priorities and supports coherence across key national reforms and wellbeing goals. The standards serve as an essential mechanism for embedding the Curriculum for Wales, supporting ALN transformation, and advancing commitments to raise standards, promote equity, and strengthen community‑focused schooling. They are intended to promote an anti-racist Wales and Cymraeg 2050.

The standards should support wider system coherence by linking ITE, induction, professional learning and leadership qualifications alongside school improvement arrangements and the professional development review processes.

The professional standards will also apply to practitioners in a system leadership role, which will include those practitioners working in local authorities as well as schools. This approach, therefore, ensures that practitioners across different public sector organisations will be working towards the same professional standards.

Career‑long access to high‑quality, well‑designed professional learning, informed by the professional standards, is critical to supporting practitioner development and maintaining high standards in schools. A well‑supported and valued workforce is essential to successful teaching and improved learner outcomes.

Collaboration

Collaboration is highlighted across all evidence as a core driver of successful educational reform in Wales. The professional standards set the framework for practitioners to work together within their own staff teams, across clusters, and between primary and secondary phases to plan, align practice, and build shared approaches to curriculum and assessment.

National evidence shows that collaborative professional learning that is informed by the professional standards is one of the most effective ways to improve teaching quality. Leaders and practitioners (in response to the formal consultation) report the structure provided by the professional standards enables meaningful joint planning linked to the Curriculum for Wales, new qualification pathways, ALN reforms, and wider priorities. This is aligned with the revised School Improvement Guidance issued in January 2026, which encourages vertical and horizontal collaboration between schools. 

A 12-week consultation on the revised standards was held from 3 November 2025 to 30 January 2026. This ran alongside a small pilot programme involving 25 schools from across Wales to test, in depth, the practical use of the standards with teaching assistants, teachers and school leaders. The formal consultation period was supported by consultation events and included engagement with local authority induction leads, teaching assistants, Estyn, the teaching trade unions and representatives from diocesan authorities.

The consultation received 90 formal responses and involved over 275 practitioners in consultation workshops. The consultation responses were overwhelmingly positive with 70% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the proposals. The consultation response was published in March 2026: Revised professional standards for assisting teaching, teaching and leadership: Summary of responses. 

Involvement

This proposal has been informed and strengthened through meaningful involvement of those a wide range of practitioners and key stakeholders. School leaders have consistently supported the framework that is provided by the professional standards and have welcomed the support that practitioners can access through their ongoing engagement with the standards.

Welsh Government has engaged extensively with key stakeholders, including local authorities, Estyn, trade unions, and Diocesan authorities. These partners consistently emphasise that the professional standards are critical to supporting the workforce and improving outcomes for learners. Their insights have helped shape a proposal that directly responds to sector‑identified needs and aligns with priorities for raising school standards. 

Overall, the proposal has been co‑developed through an inclusive and collaborative process, ensuring that the voices of practitioners and system partners directly inform decision‑making.

Impact

A formal evaluation of the professional standards in 2023 (evaluation of the professional standards for teaching, leadership and assisting teaching) that professional standards are widely regarded as a positive and effective framework for supporting professional growth across the education workforce in Wales. Practitioners and stakeholders viewed the standards as developmental, aspirational and flexible, with strong alignment to Curriculum for Wales and wider education reforms. The standards are particularly effective in supporting professional dialogue, self-reflection, collaboration and professional learning, while also providing a shared professional language for discussing teaching, leadership and practice. Evidence suggested that engagement with the standards was strongest among newly qualified teachers, leaders and those participating in formal professional learning programmes. The evaluation also found emerging evidence that the standards were contributing positively to collaboration, innovation, professional enquiry and professional learning. 

In the formal consultation on the revised professional standards, the key themes identified included:

• clarity, accessibility and usability of the standards
• workload implications
• role clarity (particularly system leadership)
• Welsh language, equity and inclusion
• the importance of strong leadership in implementation

As a result, there is ongoing involvement and commitment to future national engagement events, additional stakeholder collaboration and developing supporting resources informed by the consultation feedback. Work also continues to provide digital solutions and guidance.

Overall, the implementation of revised professional standards is expected to enhance practitioner capability, support sustainable reform, and strengthen the conditions that lead to improved learner outcomes, making it proportionate and beneficial for the education system in Wales.

Costs and Savings

The policy is cost‑neutral for schools. Any professional learning needs that are identified through the professional standards can be accommodated through the recent Ministerial agreement that six INSET days will be in place for all schools on an ongoing basis from 2026 to 2027 onwards. This will ensure that schools have sufficient protected time for professional learning, planning and preparation, to support teaching and learning and implementation of major national reforms.

Welsh Government costs to date include the following:

• Development of revised standards, guidance and resources.
• Consultation and engagement activity.
• Digital platform development and maintenance.
• Rollout communications and support.

The current funding position is that the proposal does not require additional Welsh Government funding, and any future activity will be delivered within existing budgets and by seeking a phased rollout, allows cost management over time.

Mechanism

For the purposes of assessment and the award of qualifications, the revised professional standards will remain aligned to the existing statutory frameworks set out in: 

• The Education (Induction Arrangements for School Teachers) (Wales) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/484 (W.41)) and The Education (Induction Arrangements for School Teachers) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/1058 (W.223)).
• The School Teacher Appraisal (Wales) Regulations 2011. 
• The School Teachers' Qualifications (Wales) Regulations 2012.

8.1 How have people most likely to be affected by the proposal been involved in developing it?

The people most likely to be affected by these proposals are practitioners working in schools in Wales i.e. teaching assistants, teachers, in school leaders, headteachers and system leaders. Other partners within the education system have an interest in the proposal. It is highly unlikely that there would be wider interest from the public or stakeholders outside the education sector. Engagement on the proposals has included:

• A full public consultation (Revised professional standards for assisting teaching, teaching and leadership [HTML] | GOV.WALES) was held from 3 November 2025 – 30 January 2026. This ran alongside a small pilot programme involving 25 schools from across Wales to test, in depth, the practical use of the standards with teaching assistants, teachers and school leaders. The formal consultation period was supported by consultation events and included engagement with local authority induction leads, teaching assistants, Estyn, the teaching trade unions and representatives from diocesan authorities.
• To support the consultation, a range of online and in person workshops were held across Wales with stakeholders and school practitioners to ensure that all key partners in the education sector were actively part of the development of the new standards. This engagement included practitioners and leaders from primary, secondary, all-through, special schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), alongside partners from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers, Estyn, Local Authorities, Unions, Diocesan Authorities, LA induction leads and the Education Workforce Council (EWC).

The consultation received 90 formal responses and involved over 275 practitioners in consultation workshops. The consultation responses were overwhelmingly positive with 70% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the proposals. The consultation response was published in March 2026 - Revised professional standards for assisting teaching, teaching and leadership: Summary of responses. This included responses from:

• Children's Commissioner for Wales
• Comisiynydd y Gymraeg
• Education Workforce Council
• Estyn
• National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers
• National Early Years Advisory Teachers Group
• National Education Union Cymru 

8.2 What are the most significant impacts, positive and negative?

The most significant impacts of the proposal relate specifically to the education workforce and their professional practice. This has been considered fully in the Workload Impact Assessment. 

The revised professional standards are expected to have a significant positive impact on the education workforce by supporting lifelong professional learning and fostering reflective practice. Strong agreement from the consultation (nearly 70%) indicates confidence that the standards will promote meaningful professional dialogue, strengthen professional identity and contribute to a self-improving system. This aligns with the well-being goals of a prosperous, more equal and cohesive Wales. The revised standards apply to all practitioners supporting learning in schools in Wales, from ITE through to system leadership. As such, their impacts are system-wide and long-term, shaping professional behaviours, development pathways and workforce capability.

No significant impacts on the economy or environment of Wales have been identified.

Overall, the proposal supports several of the well‑being goals under the Well‑being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, particularly A More Equal Wales, A Prosperous Wales, A Healthier Wales and A Wales of Cohesive Communities.

The impacts of the implementation of the revised professional standards on the education system in Wales are expected to relate to:

• raising standards, specifically in literacy, numeracy and digital Tackling equity and poverty – including achieving an anti-racist Wales by 2030
• supporting Welsh language commitments - delivering Cymraeg 2050 and embedding Welsh across the curriculum and culture
• supporting school improvement through professional collaboration
• supporting the long-term ambition to deliver a self-improving education system in Wales
• driving system reform through collective responsibility, partnership and multi-agency working

Children, young people and families

In the long term, the implementation of the revised professional standards is expected to have a positive impact on learners by supporting practitioners to improve teaching and learning, embed the Curriculum for Wales, implement ALN reforms effectively, and address national priorities including in relation to reducing the impact of poverty. These impacts will contribute to improved educational experiences and outcomes for children and young people, supporting Article 28 (right to education) and Article 3 (best interests of the child) of the UNCRC.

Equality considerations

The proposal has equality benefits through its focus on supporting ALN reform and equity across the revised professional standards. Specifically, the overarching professional commitments within the standards set out that:

Professionals uphold the highest standards of integrity by acting in the best interests of all learners, protecting their rights and safeguarding their well-being. They challenge practices or behaviours that may limit any learner’s opportunity to succeed, even when this requires courage or difficult conversations. 

Welsh language

The Welsh language impact assessment concluded that the proposal is unlikely to have a negative effect on the Welsh language and does not treat Welsh less favourably than English. 

Evidence from the formal consultation supported how the professional standards actively support the Welsh language, specifically in the overarching professional commitments:

Effective support for Cymraeg 2050 by embedding the Welsh language across the curriculum and school culture ensures that all learners and professionals have the opportunity to become confident, capable Welsh speakers who value and use the Welsh language in their everyday lives.

8.3 In light of the impacts identified, how will the proposal: 

• maximise contribution to our well-being objectives and the seven well-being goals; and (or),
• avoid, reduce or mitigate any negative impacts?

The proposal supports the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 by strengthening teaching practice and professional learning, contributing to long‑term improvement in teaching quality and learner outcomes.

• A Prosperous Wales: By aligning the professional standards with national reforms (including Curriculum for Wales, ALN and qualifications), the proposal supports a skilled and adaptable education workforce. This is expected to contribute indirectly to improved learner outcomes and longer‑term economic wellbeing.
• A More Equal Wales: The prescribed purposes for the revised professional standards include a strong focus on Additional Learning Needs and national priorities including reducing the impact of poverty, helping practitioners better meet the needs of learners who may be disadvantaged or require additional support. 
• A Healthier Wales: It is anticipated that the developmental and supportive nature of the revised professional standards will contribute positively to staff wellbeing by ensuring that all practitioners working in schools in Wales have clear and nationally consistent expectations of their roles. This includes a specific professional standard focussing on managing workload.
• A Wales of Cohesive Communities: The revised professional standards include specific expectations for practitioners and schools to focus on their communities. This is set out explicitly in the overarching professional commitments that set out the vision for practitioners working in the education system in Wales: The success of education in Wales relies upon the collective responsibility and effort of all involved to engage with colleagues and the wider community beyond the school. 

The proposal reflects the five ways of working by taking a long‑term approach to workforce development, focusing on prevention (by identifying support early and providing opportunities for professional learning), integrating national priorities, and being informed by engagement with practitioners and stakeholders.

Promoting children’s rights

The primary aim of the revised professional standards is to raise standards of teaching to ensure that all learners are able to reach their full potential. This means that the overall impact of the proposal on children will be indirect, but that improved teaching quality benefits children’s rights to education in the longer term (Article 28).

Promoting equalities

No significant adverse impacts on protected groups were identified through the assessment. 

Avoiding, reducing or mitigating negative impacts

Potential negative impacts identified include schools using the revised professional standards for compliance purposes, rather than as the supportive, developmental tool that they have been designed to be. This will be mitigated by:

• ensuring that in guidance there is clear separation between the professional standards and any mandatory requirements where the standards are used for assessment or qualifications purposes

In areas where no further mitigation is proposed, this is because:

• impacts are indirect, low‑level or already well understood, or
• existing statutory duties and guidance provide sufficient safeguards, or
• additional intervention by Welsh Government would be disproportionate

The Welsh Government will keep the impacts of the policy under review as part of ongoing engagement with the sector.

8.4 How will the impact of the proposal be monitored and evaluated as it progresses and when it concludes?

The impact of the proposal will be monitored through a combination of ongoing stakeholder engagement, implementation feedback and formal evaluation. Post-implementation review will be informed by practitioner experience, drawing on feedback from schools, local authorities, consortia, ITE providers and national bodies such as the EWC and Estyn.

Key indicators will include practitioner engagement with the standards, their use within professional dialogue and development processes, and perceived impact on teaching practice and school improvement. The digital platform on Hwb can provide insights into usage patterns and accessibility.

Evaluation activity will build on the 2023 independent evaluation of the existing standards, enabling comparative analysis over time. Feedback mechanisms will be embedded within implementation, including engagement events and professional learning programmes, to ensure continuous improvement.

Monitoring will also consider the extent to which the standards are being used as intended (developmentally rather than performatively), including feedback on workload, accessibility and inclusivity.

The Welsh Government will also consider alignment with wider reforms, including Curriculum for Wales and workforce strategy developments, to assess coherence and system impact. Findings will inform iterative refinement of guidance, resources and delivery approaches, ensuring the standards remain fit for purpose and deliver intended benefits for practitioners and learners.