Education in Wales

Wales has been part of the Kingdom of England and its successors since mediaeval times, and historically had no distinct legal status in the United Kingdom as for instance Scotland had.[2][3] Thus throughout most of the 20th century and earlier, the development of education in Wales was closely aligned to its development in England. Very few people received any formal education in the mediaeval period with only a small number of schools catering largely for boys from landowning families. Various new grammar schools were established in the 16th century to educate boys of the growing merchant classes. In the 17th century, the short-lived republican Commonwealth of England attempted to spread access to education through "free schools", sixty of which were set up in Wales. Though little information remains about these institutions and they disappeared after the Stuart Restoration, they represent an early experiment in providing education to a larger proportion of the population. By the end of the 17th century, a network of charity schools gave children of both sexes a basic education focused on religion and literacy.[4]

An unidentified school somewhere in South Wales (circa 1905)

At the start of the 19th century, schooling in England and Wales was provided on a haphazard basis by private business, charity and the church. This system saw many children from less wealthy families, in particular, receive a low quality of education and in 1800 around half of people were illiterate. From 1833 onwards, the state increasingly provided financing for education.[5][6] In 1870 the Elementary Education Act legislated for the creation of a system of state funded schools. Ten years later education became compulsory for five- to ten-year-old children and all school fees at elementary schools were abolished eleven years after that.[5] Compulsory education was expanded to children up to the age of twelve years by the end of the 1890s,[7] 14 years in 1918, 15 years in 1947 and 16 years in 1972.[8] The modern day split between primary and secondary school was established after World War II. A selective system of admittance into secondary school was initially used but replaced with comprehensive schools in the 1960s and '70s.[9][10][11]

Girls at Newton Church School sewing covers for their Gas Masks (1939)

In 1896 the Central Welsh Board was formed, responsible for the inspection of grammar schools in Wales. The Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889 was brought about to "make further provision for the intermediate and technical education of the inhabitants of Wales and the county of Monmouth." and was responsible for inspection of secondary schools.[12][13] In 1907, the Welsh department of the Board of Education was formed and in the same year, a Welsh Inspectorate was established for inspection of primary and secondary schools in Wales.[14]

In 1944, during the Winston Churchill war ministry government, The Central Advisory Council for Education (Wales) was formed and became responsible for advising the Minister of Education of the UK government on education in Wales following the Education Act 1944.[13] In 1948, the WJEC was formed, which was a consortium of Local Education Authorities in Wales. The WJEC replaced the Central Welsh Board (formed in 1896) and is still the largest awarding body in Wales today.[15]

In 1970, the governance of Primary and secondary education in Wales was placed under the control of the UK government's Welsh Office. In 1978 control of training, qualifications, supply, and teacher pay and pensions were also transferred to the Welsh Office.[13] In 1993, the Curriculum Cymraig was introduced with the intention of adding more of an emphasis on the cultural life and society of Wales into the standardised curriculum which had recently been created by the 1988 Education Reform Act. However, a report produced by Estyn in 2001 suggested that the success of this endeavour had been quite limited and varied significantly between subjects, schools and regions.[16]

Following the victory of the Labour party in the 1997 general election, the new government enacted its policy of giving significant governing powers to elected bodies based in Scotland and Wales.[17][2] Referendums were held on this matter later that year which passed in Wales by a narrow margin, and two years later the first elections to these institutions were held.[3][2] The Welsh Assembly, which later became the Welsh Parliament, lacked legislative powers to begin with, but did control many public services including education.[18]

A 2005 report argued that in the years after devolution, education policy in the four constituent countries of the UK diverged: for example, England had pursued reforms intended to create a wider range of options for families while Wales (and Scotland) focused on a more universal experience of schooling. The way that education was administered had become increasingly varied across the UK.[19] Education researcher David Reynolds claimed in 2008 that policy in Wales was driven by a "producerist" paradigm emphasising collaboration between educational partners. He also alludes to lower funding in Welsh schools compared to England, echoing similar concerns at university level. He concludes that performance data did not suggest that Wales had improved more rapidly than England, although there were considerable difficulties in making these kinds of assessments.[20]

Since 5 May 2010, the terms local education authority and children's services authority have been repealed and replaced by the single term 'local authority' in both primary and secondary legislation.[21]

Changes in the years immediately following devolution included the removal of statutory testing for children in the middle years of their schooling (though it was later reintroduced).[22][23]

From 2008 to 2011 the foundation phase was introduced for three- to seven-year-olds in Wales,[24][25] a curriculum which was designed to focus on a child's developmental needs and emphasised the importance of play and direct experiences for learning in this age group.[26] A 2015 report into the rollout of the phase found that it was associated with improved attainment, including in the later years of primary school after its completion.[27]

The Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021 was passed in 2021, which established new curriculum requirements for all learners aged 3 to 16 in maintained or funded non-maintained nursery education.[28] The new curriculum is designed to include more emphasise on skills and experiences as well as knowledge. The curriculum groups education into six "Areas of Learning and Experience" with the intention of helping teachers draw links between subjects and teach topics in a broad way though traditional subjects will still be taught.[29] Within a basic framework of goals and learning areas, it give schools freedom to develop their own curriculum to suit the needs of their pupils.[30] Other changes include a greater emphasis on the history of Wales and ethnic minority groups which reports by Estyn in previous years suggested had often been poor along with the removal of parents right to take their children out of sex education classes.[31][32][33][34]

Numeracy activity completed in nursery class at Court Rawlin Primary school, Caerphilly (2006)

From the start of the January, April or September (whichever comes soonest) following a child's third birthday they become eligible for a minimum of ten hours a week in publicly funded nursery education. Nursery lessons are focused on developing children's abilities in a variety of areas such as creativity, communication and general knowledge however, at this age, learning to read and write is not yet considered a priority.[35] Depending on their parents economic and employment status children in this age-range may be eligible for up to twenty additional hours of state-subsidised childcare each week.[36]

According to statistics for the 2021/2022 school year most state-funded primary schools in Wales and all separate infant schools included nursery provision.[37] There were also eight separate nursery schools which are owned and run by the Local authority.[38][39] The hours of state-funded childcare a child is entitled to can also be provided by other childcare facilities.[35][36] According to a 2018 report, there were 4,012 such facilities registered in 2016, it also noted that "The majority of childcare providers are childminders (52%). The remaining childcare provision is delivered by sessional day care settings (20%), full day care settings (17%), out of school care settings (10%), open access play provision (1%) and crèches (0.5%)."[40]

The Welsh government is planning to introduce universal state funded childcare for two-year-old children by the mid-2020s. Currently, only the most disadvantaged toddlers in this age group and those in some more deprived areas are entitled to 12.5 hours of care provided by the state.[41][42]

A child's age on 1 September determines the point of entry into the relevant stage of education.[43] Education is compulsory beginning with the term following the child's fifth birthday, but may take place at either home or school. Most parents choosing to educate through school-based provision, however, enrol their children in the reception year in September of that school year, with most children thus beginning school at age four or four and a half.[44] This age was traditionally much earlier than in most other Western nations,[45] but in recent years many European countries have lowered their age of compulsory education, usually by making one or more years of kindergarten compulsory.[46]

Primary school pupils in 1960, in Barmouth, celebrating St David's Day

In 2014/15, there were 1,330 primary schools in Wales with 273,400 pupils and 12,240 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers. The teacher/pupil ratio was 1:22 and the average class size was 26 pupils.[47] In 2015/16, there were 276,950 pupils in 1,310 primary schools – a rise of 3,550 since 2014/15.[48]

In 2014/15, there were 435 Welsh-medium primary schools with 65,460 pupils, rising from 64,366 in 2013/14, but the number of Welsh-medium primary schools decreased from 444,[47] due primarily to the closure of small rural schools.

Universal free school meals were introduced in Wales for children in the first year of primary school in September 2022. They are planned to be rolled out for all primary school children by 2024.[49]

Children typically transfer from primary to secondary school between schools years six and seven,[50] when they are 11 years old.[51] In school year nine (or sometimes eight), pupils receive a chose of what subjects to continue their studies in, options must be available across multiple fields but vary between schools. Maths, English, Science and Welsh as a first or second language are compulsory whilst some schools may also make other subjects compulsory.[52][53]

Pupils in secondary school take part in the compulsory GCSE and the non-compulsory A-level or BTEC qualifications at ages 15/16 and 17/18 respectively. Since 2007 the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification has also been available as an option although it was ungraded until 2015.[54]

In 2014/15 there were 207 secondary schools (a drop of six since 2013/14) in Wales with 182,408 pupils and 11,269 FTE teachers (a drop of 310 since 2013/14). The pupil/teacher ratio was 17:1, which has remained largely the same since 2000/01.[47] In 2015/16, there were 178,650 pupils in 205 secondary schools – a drop of 3,700 since 2014/15.[48] The same report found that in 2015/16, there were 8,000 pupils in 34 independent schools, 4,540 pupils in 32 independent special schools, and 730 pupils in 25 pupil referral units.

In 2014/15, there were 50 Welsh-medium secondary (a drop of 2 since 2013/14) schools with 36,485 pupils, dropping from 37,400 in 2013/14. In the same year, there were 4 Welsh-medium middle schools (a rise of 2 since 2013/14) with 2,448 pupils, a rise from 1,577 in 2013/14.[47]

In 2016, 60.3% of Year 11 pupils (aged 16) achieved the Level 2 inclusive threshold (Level 2 including a grade A*-C in English or Welsh first language and Mathematics). 35.6% of pupils eligible for FSM (free school meals) achieved the L2 inclusive threshold. 66.9% of pupils achieved A*-C in maths. 70.4% of pupils achieved A*-C in either English or Welsh first language.[55]

Wales has often performed poorly in PISA results, which compare the academic abilities of adolescents around the world.[56] The 2018 tests saw Wales' results improving but remaining the weakest of the four education systems of the UK in all subjects.[57]

A further education college in Merthyr Tydfil.

Further education (FE) includes full- and part-time learning for people over compulsory school age, excluding higher education.[58] Young people often enrol in FE as an alternative to staying at school after the age of 16.[59] FE and publicly funded training in Wales is provided by 15 FE institutions in 2014/15 and a range of public, private and voluntary sector training providers, such as the Workers' Educational Association. Colleges vary in size and mission, and include general FE, tertiary and specialist institutions, including one Roman Catholic Sixth Form College and a residential adult education college. Many colleges offer leisure learning and training programmes designed to meet the needs of business.[60][61] In 2014/15 there were 263,315 FE students in Wales spanning the entire availability of FE at multiple placements, including FE, HE (higher education), LA (local authority) Community, and work-based learning.[47]

Adult Community learning is a form of adult education or lifelong learning delivered and supported by local authorities in Wales.[62] Programmes can be formal or informal, non-accredited or accredited, and vocational, academic or leisure orientated.[63] In 2018–2019, there were 23,970 learners in Local Authority Community Learning.[64]

Main Building of Cardiff University

St David's building of the University of Wales Lampeter – Wales' oldest University

Students normally enter higher education (HE) from 18 onwards. Undergraduate students contribute £9,000 a year in fees, and are generally entitled to student loans and grants depending on their family's economic situation for maintenance.[65] The state does not control syllabi, but it does influence admission procedures and monitors standards through the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland all qualifications can be compared on a scale beginning with entry level and then followed by eight numbered levels, 1 is the equivalent of a weaker pass grade at GCSE and 8 the equivalent of a doctorate.[66] Undergraduate degrees typically the first higher education qualifications available are usually level 4, 5 or 6. Students will generally need A-Levels or an equivalent at a certain grade to enroll on them but may be able to do a foundation year prior to starting if their grades are weaker. There are various types of undergraduate degree but the most common is a Bachelor's degree which generally takes three years to complete and involves studying one or sometimes two subjects in detail. It is a level 6 qualification.[66]

A postgraduate degree is a level 7 or 8 qualification. It can typically only be completed after an undergraduate degree has been completed. It is generally focused on a more specific topic rather than the more general subject taught at undergraduate level. These generally come in two types the "taught" degree which conducted more in the style of an undergraduate degree and "research" degree where the student directs their own study of a self-chosen question in a more independent manner. A master's degree is the highest level of qualification.[66]

In 2014/15 there were 145,735 enrolments at HE institutions in Wales, including 97,900 first degree and other undergraduates and 27,780 postgraduates. Welsh HE institutions had a total of 10,140 full-time and part-time staff.[47]

Unlike in England, where state schools are increasingly run in an Academy model where they are funded directly by the central government, state schools in Wales are overseen by local authorities.[67] Local authority funded or maintained schools come in various different models. The Community school is owned and run by the local authority, the Voluntary controlled schools is owned by a charity with close oversight from the local authority, the Voluntary aided school is owned by a charity with a greater degree of self-governance and the Foundation school is owned by a governing body or charity organisation with limited local authority oversight. In the second and third case the charity is usually a religious organisation, typically the Church in Wales or the Roman Catholic Church.[38]

The curriculum being rolled out in Wales from 2022 onwards is intended to give individual schools more control over the instruction they provide and the autonomy to develop their own curricula within a basic set of guidelines.[68]

[69]

In 2014, there were four formal education consortia in Wales covering:

• North Wales (GwE) (Flintshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Denbighshire)
• South West and Mid Wales (ERW) (Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Ceredigion)
• Central South Wales (CSC) (Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Vale of Glamorgan)
• South East Wales (EAS) (Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen)

The role of Education Consortia is to assist in school improvement in their respective regions. This includes areas such as the effectiveness of schools leadership, the quality of their teaching and pupils results. The South West and Mid Wales Consortia partially broke down in 2020 with Powys, Ceredigion and Neath Port Talbot all leaving. The former two councils then formed an informal partnership whilst Neath Port Talbot remained outside the Consortia system as of March 2022.[70]

The governance of education has been devolved in Wales since the creation of the Welsh assembly in 1999 along with other related policy areas such as Welsh language policy and local government.[18] This has led to the creation of a somewhat distinctive education system.[71][72] Wales has its own education inspectorate,[73] qualifications regulator[74] and curriculum.[75][76]

The money the Welsh government has to spend in devolved areas is broadly pegged to money the UK government spends in equivalent areas in England through a system called the Barnett formula. However, the devolved administrations are not obliged to spend the money they receive in the same policy area as it was spent in England (e.g. the equivalent to money spent on health in England could be spent on education in Wales).[77][78] More broadly Wales's and the other UK education systems are all influenced by their interactions with reserved matters and coexistence within the United Kingdom.[19]

An example of a Welsh Not dating from 1852 . A device used by some schools in the middle of 19th century to punish children for speaking welsh at school.[79]

Early charitable schools established in the 17th century in Wales taught in both Welsh and English.[14] A controversial 1847 report into unrest in Wales argued that the Welsh language was an impediment to education. The decades prior to the 1870 Education Act saw the Welsh Not in use in some schools. This was a plaque which children were given if they were caught speaking welsh in lessons, if another child spoke welsh it was moved to them and at the end of the day the last child with the plaque was punished. This practice was widespread in some Welsh counties in the middle of the 19th century, though it was never official government policy and the schools where it took place were voluntary at that time, so acted with the endorsement of parents. While speaking Welsh at school was not illegal in the 19th century their was no institutional support for it and it was viewed as an unsuitable medium for education in the environment of the Victorian era and height of the British Empire.[80]

In 1939, the first Welsh-medium primary school was established independently of the state by the Urdd in Aberystwyth.[81] The 1944 Education Act made it possible for Welsh-medium schools to be funded by the state for the first time. The first state school of this type was opened in Llanelli in 1947 and there were ten such institutions within two years.[82] The first bilingual and Welsh medium secondary schools were founded in 1956 and 1962 respectively.[83][84] Welsh was included in the curriculum introduced after the 1988 Education Reform Act and become compulsory for pupils up to the age of 14 in 1990 and 16 in 1999.[22]

Children at Crwys Road infants school, an early Welsh-medium school in Cardiff (1951)

A significant minority of students in Wales are educated either wholly or largely through the medium of Welsh: in 2014/15, 15.7% of children and young people received Welsh-medium education – a drop from the 15.9% in 2010/11.[85] An additional 10% attended schools in which significant portion of the curriculum is bilingual.[86] The study of the Welsh language is available to all age groups through nurseries,[87] schools,[22] colleges,[88] and universities,[89] and in adult education. Though, involvement is fairly limited above secondary school level.[88][89] The study of the language is compulsory for all pupils in State Schools until the age of 16.[22]

Educational institutions have flexibility over how much English children are taught prior to the age of seven.[90] This is in order to allow Welsh medium schools and nurseries to immerse young children in the language as much as possible.[91] In the later years of primary school, the curriculum at Welsh medium schools continues to be mostly (70% or more) taught in Welsh whilst at secondary level all subjects other than English are taught in Welsh.[86] However, as they get older, students in Welsh medium education are required to work towards the same tests and qualifications in the English language as their counterparts who were primarily educated in English.[92][93]

• Home education in the United Kingdom
• Primary education in Wales
• Secondary education in Wales

• Education in England
• Education in Northern Ireland
• Education in Scotland