Secondary Schools in Wales: Governance, Policy and Curriculum

Education in Wales has historically developed along similar lines to that of England, with UK legislation largely having force in both countries; especially following the establishment of the National Curriculum from the Education Reform Act 1988. However, since political devolution to the then National Assembly for Wales in 1999, education became the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government under Schedule 5 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. Now, the Welsh Government has control over education policy, teachers’ pay and conditions through the Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru, since 2020), although the UK Government still retains control of teachers’ pensions. Education in Wales has developed a distinct identity, with education policy and the wider Welsh education system increasingly diverging from policies and practices in England. This is set to continue with the major education system-level reforms currently taking place at the time of writing (Welsh Government, 2020a), including significant changes to the national curriculum, assessment and qualifications.This unit focuses on the current structure of schooling, curriculum and teacher education in Wales. A unit comparing education across the four nations of the United Kingdom was included as part of the eighth edition of this book (2019), which would provide a historical perspective on comparisons between education in Wales and education in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.The first part of the unit focuses on the history, organisation and governance of education in Wales. It then presents the emerging structure of schooling in Wales by introducing the new Curriculum for Wales, published in January 2020 (Welsh Government, 2020b), which will be implemented in state-maintained primary and secondary schools from September 2022 onwards. The unit then focuses on teacher education in Wales