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Literacy & Numeracy Skills

Is this devolved to Wales?

Where is this happening?

What's happening?

Why is this happening?

Who has been affected?

What's happening?

Why is this happening?

Who has been affected?

PISA points scores by UK nation, maths (source)

PISA points scores by UK nation, reading (source)

Key Stage 4 (Year 11/GCSE) interim measures by FSM, gender, and local authority. Literacy points score.
(custom table)

Key Stage 4 (Year 11/GCSE) interim measures by FSM, gender, and local authority. Numeracy points score.
(custom table)

£ 00 million Total

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Explanation
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Who has raised this at the Senedd?

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

First Minister

Anna Brychan MS

Education & Welsh Language Minister

Alun Cox MS

Backbencher

Leticia Gonzalez MS

Backbencher

Sarah Rees MS

Backbencher

Sera Evans MS

Chair: Education & Young People

Helen Jenner MS

Leader of the Opposition

Catherine Cullen MS

Shadow Minister for Children

David Mills MS

Backbencher

Steven Senior MS

Shadow Education Minister

Lynne Neagle MS

Labour Whip

Sam Rowlands MS

Chair: Finance

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

First Minister

Anna Brychan MS

Education & Welsh Language Minister

Alun Cox MS

Backbencher

Leticia Gonzalez MS

Backbencher

Sarah Rees MS

Backbencher

Sera Evans MS

Chair: Education & Young People

Helen Jenner MS

Leader of the Opposition

Catherine Cullen MS

Shadow Minister for Children

David Mills MS

Backbencher

Steven Senior MS

Shadow Education Minister

Lynne Neagle MS

Labour Whip

Sam Rowlands MS

Chair: Finance

What are the party positions on this?

Plaid Cymru backbenchers support the government’s push for improved national standards, with particular concerns over reading in schools and additional learning needs.

If we want to embed systematic synthetic phonics effectively throughout Wales, as you've said, we also need to ensure that the conditions are right for it to succeed. And again, as you've mentioned, that means ensuring that the teachers have the confidence, the training and the professional development that they need, and that schools have access to high-quality resources, and that there is sufficient consistency in the way the approach is implemented across the system.

I've spoken with many parents across my constituency in Cardiff who are worried about falling standards in literacy and numeracy, and the increasing challenges teachers face in supporting pupils with additional learning needs. Many parents simply want reassurance that their child will receive the funding, support and opportunities they deserve, and that goes for children attending Welsh-medium and English-medium schools.

I very much welcome the manifesto commitment for a library in every primary school. It's crucial that literacy skills are developed outside the classroom to encourage a love of reading, like mine, from an early age. However, the foundational literacy and numeracy plan does risk assuming that all children enter education with the same experiences. Schemes such as Bookstart by BookTrust Cymru help parents read with babies and toddlers, ensuring the youngest in society have access to the opportunities that they deserve from the very start.

Reform UK call for a change to current policies, suggesting the existing curriculum is inappropriate.

You're proposing a new baseline assessment, a year 6 indicator, national indicators and greater target setting. You and I both know that teachers are under enormous pressure. I've raised before that retaining good teachers is every bit as important as recruiting them. So, what additional time, training and resources will schools receive to deliver this plan? And importantly, Minister, what are you taking away?

Labour has been responsible for education in Wales, and the results speak for themselves, with the lowest PISA scores in the UK, the poorest post-16 educational outcomes and Welsh pupils performing at a level comparable only to the most disadvantaged children in England. Estyn has also highlighted that roughly 20 per cent of pupils leave primary school functionally illiterate. These figures are frightening and a rapid change of policy is required.

In some GCSE English classes in Wales, some academic books, oral examination subjects and prose and poems have been removed and filled with those that deal with modern social constructs, including those with gender identity themes....With our Programme for International Student Assessment rankings declining...my question is: why are we removing literacy and replacing it with gender theories and relationships and sexuality education material?

Labour MSs have expressed support for measures put in place by the previous Welsh Government, but want full consultation with teachers’ unions before any new targets are introduced.

....literacy and numeracy was a priority for me too (as former Education Minister). I think that she (Anna Brychan) will benefit from the over £10 million-worth of investment that we provided for literacy initiatives. I wanted to ask specifically about the CAL:ON Cymru programme, which was very well received by the ministerial heads advisory group and Dysgu, to ask whether she will continue with that.

You've talked about setting targets for schools, and that's fine. Is it your intention to set a target for the Government? The statement refers to 'sustained improvement'. What is that going to look like? Are you going to be more concrete than that? Obviously, I'm conscious that you are discussing targets at a time when industrial relations are quite difficult with the teaching unions.

The Conservatives are particularly concerned about the decline in Wales’ PISA scores compared to the rest of the UK, and want the Welsh Government to set clear targets for improvement.

The reality is that we continue to see Wales at or near the bottom of UK education rankings, and consistently doing poorly on international PISA rankings, with too many young people still leaving school without secure literacy and numeracy skills.....And on those PISA rankings, I wonder if you have a target in mind as to where you want Wales to be at the end of this Senedd term to show progress in relation to all-important standards, and also a position that you want to be held accountable for in terms of those PISA rankings.

Wales is falling behind every other UK nation in maths, reading and science, with the gap particularly stark when compared with England. You rightfully want to work with other countries and co-operate and learn from them. Why don't you learn from England as to how they are doing so well with their education outcomes compared with our children here in Wales?

Green MSs haven’t said anything specifically on this yet.

Test Test Test

Jane Dodds hasn’t said anything on this specifically.

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Who is responsible?

Anna Brychan MS

Education & Welsh Language Minister

What have ministers said?

It is, I think, a lack of understanding of the expectations around progression in literacy and numeracy, and that's precisely why we are introducing this literacy and numeracy foundational plan. We need to understand the skills and aptitudes that learners have when they enter the school system. We need to understand how to support them to achieve as we would like them to throughout that journey, and that is what this plan is designed to do. We are working on the detail now.

None of this means that I am any less committed to the Curriculum for Wales, and I have no intention of moving away from its underlying principles and purpose-driven orientation. I have seen first-hand the difference it can make to learners, but literacy and numeracy are the gateway into the curriculum and the means by which learners can access the full range of opportunities it has to offer. I will also set out in the coming months a targeted review of the Curriculum for Wales, focusing on key areas for refinement and clarification.

In four years' time, I want to see more young people leave school with the highest possible levels of literacy and numeracy, that fewer children leave school without basic skills, and that more children earn useful qualifications. There is a need to facilitate the work of schools, local authorities and the learners themselves by stating clearly what our expectations are and giving clear national guidance to our schools....This is what our partners in the educational system have asked for, that's what parents and learners need.

These PISA results are, to say the least, deeply disappointing. They underline to me the scale of the challenge that we face. They reinforce this Government’s determination to take a new and rigorous approach to raising standards. We'll be unapologetically ambitious for every learner, setting clear targets, holding ourselves accountable for delivering them, because raising standards has to be a priority.

What's being done about this?

What do the Welsh Government want to do?

Does this need a new law or regulations?

How long will this take?

What do the Welsh Government want to do?

Does this need a new law or regulations?

How long will this take?

What have the Senedd's Committees said?

Nothing has been discussed yet.

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