Wales has a school standards crisis. Will plans to fix it actually work?
Wales scores poorly on international test results but it is not clear a new curriculum will help.
Saint Carlo Acutis Catholic School in Merthyr Tydfil is an impressive new building, but the Welsh education system is facing a crisis. Wales has once again ranked the worst among UK nations in global tests, casting doubt on a system the country is proud of. Headteacher Sarah Hopkins acknowledges the disappointment, stating that the test results don't tell the full story.
As parents consider their children's next steps, with secondary school place applications due at the end of the month, the test results raise questions about why Wales has underperformed compared to its neighbors. With a new Plaid Cymru government now in charge, can they fulfill the promises to improve standards? Building new schools alone does not guarantee excellence, and the gap between Wales and other UK countries is widening.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) measures teenagers' skills in reading, maths, and science. In 2025, Welsh 15-year-olds scored two years behind their English counterparts in these areas. While Pisa results capture some aspects of education, they don't reflect everything schools do to support pupils.
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