Lynne Neagle MS, Cabinet Secretary for Education
This September marks a significant milestone as the first cohort of Curriculum for Wales pupils begin Year 10, starting work towards new qualifications.
As we reach this milestone, I am pleased to report significant progress across Welsh schools. This transformative curriculum, now used in all primary and secondary schools, as well as in other educational settings, is supporting our children to be ready to learn, ready for work, and ready to lead fulfilling lives.
We have invested comprehensively in this vision, with a £44 million support package that includes £20 million specifically directed to literacy and numeracy over the next 3 years - the essential foundations for all learning. This is in addition to an extra £2.5 million this year to aid local authorities to support these crucial gateway skills.
In speaking to schools throughout this year, they have been clear that what the profession wants most is practical support and professional learning. This consistent, once for Wales support that we are providing for literacy and numeracy includes granular detail to support schools to develop and embed these vital skills and will start coming online in the coming months. To give schools time and space to use that support, I am extending the review period of the Literacy and Numeracy Framework. This also ensures that changes to the Framework can build on that learning.
As the new Professional Learning and Leadership body is formally established, I expect it to become responsible for overseeing this national grant-funded support for literacy and numeracy.
Our national-level data from personalised assessments, shows encouraging progress in attainment in reading and numeracy, with English Reading in particular showing higher attainment levels compared to 2022/23 across all year groups, with improvements also evident in Welsh Reading and Procedural Numeracy.
Our Strategic Partnership Agreement with local authorities reaffirms our joint commitment to literacy, numeracy, attendance, and learner wellbeing. Our newly established Education Improvement Team is working directly with every local authority, in particular, ensuring literacy is a system-wide priority.
Those schools implementing the curriculum effectively are raising the bar for learners. Over 200 schools engaged with our Curriculum Design Programme this year, reporting greater clarity and increased confidence in their approach as a result. This will expand next year and the learning from this programme is available to all with Hwb now hosting essential planning tools.
Our monitoring of learning and the curriculum will also ensure we have clarity about what is working through multiple approaches:
- A comprehensive formative evaluation gathering feedback from teachers, leaders, pupils and their families.
- Personalised assessments showing improvements in reading and numeracy skills
- International assessment through PISA, and the introduction of TIMSS and PIRLS to measure our progress globally
- Our ongoing work with the system including the Education Improvement Team that works closely with local authorities, and our Curriculum Policy group which gives teaching professionals an important voice in setting direction.
This approach isn't about testing schools but about evaluating our reforms at system level.
This comprehensive base of evidence also puts us in a strong position to review and refine the curriculum over time.
Together, we are creating a future where every learner thrives – where Wales stands as a beacon of educational excellence.