, Cabinet Secretary for
Education: The Curriculum for Wales is a purpose-driven
curriculum. It sets out what we want for our learners when they
finish compulsory education at 16 – informed citizens, confident
individuals and contributors to society who are ready to learn
throughout their lives.
From September 2025 the Curriculum for Wales will start to be
taught to year 10; in September 2026 when it reaches year 11
learners, the roll-out will be complete.
Years 10 and 11 are vitally important for young people as the
years when they start to undertake qualifications. During these
years, their decisions and achievements can have a significant
influence on their future choices and pathways.
Secondary education is, of course, about more than just studying
for qualifications. And the teaching and learning must be broader
than just preparing young people for exams – it's preparing
learners for life. This is why I want all learners to finish
compulsory education at 16 both having been given the opportunity
to gain good qualifications and having gained the knowledge,
skills and capabilities they need to transition to their next
steps, whether that is continuing in formal education,
apprenticeship or work.
I am today publishing statutory guidance on 14 to
16 learning under the Curriculum for Wales.
The guidance sets out the policy for 14 to 16 learning and
teaching, including the legal requirements for schools, and forms
part of the Curriculum for Wales framework guidance. The guidance
sets out clear national expectations to provide a consistent
approach across all schools.
Central to the guidance is the 14 to 16 Learner Entitlement: the
learning that all learners in year 10 and 11 will benefit from
under the Curriculum for Wales. This includes a breadth of GCSE,
vocational and skills-based qualifications drawing from the
National 14 to 16
Qualifications offer developed by Qualifications Wales, as
well as learners following stretching and ambitious
qualifications in literacy, numeracy, and the sciences. The
Learner Entitlement will also help ensure each individual young
person follows the journey that is right for them, with schools
supporting them to plan their next steps.
Responding to what senior leaders have told me they need, my
officials have worked with school leaders to develop a package of
support for practitioners on how schools can design their 14 to
16 curriculum offer. This will be published during the autumn
term, to align with the publication of WJEC's new made-for-Wales
GCSE specifications.
WJEC has developed an unprecedented pan-Wales plan to deliver
training on made-for-Wales GCSEs to clusters of schools during
INSET days from February to April 2025.
We are also developing a targeted package of professional
learning for senior leaders to complement both the WJEC training,
and the professional learning already available on curriculum
design, progression and assessment.
In addition to providing a structure for curriculum design in
years 10 and 11, the Learner Entitlement will provide a framework
for schools to use to self-evaluate and reflect upon the
learning, progress and achievements of their learners in these
years, and to plan for further improvements in their offer. Our
proposals on what should be included in the information
requirements that will replace the “Key Stage 4 interim
performance measures” (including the Capped 9) will therefore be
aligned with the priorities and aims of the Learner Entitlement.
We will be consulting on information proposals related to the
14-16 Learner Entitlement later this term and providing direction
on our expectations for use and publication of relevant data at a
school level.
The 14-16 learning policy and supporting information requirements
will help shape the expectations against which Estyn inspect
secondary schools from September 2025.
