Wales Education News

Plaid Cymru's Education spokesperson Simon Thomas says the priority now must be to ensure Wales-only exams are not seen as 'second rate' in relation to England's. He says they must be monitored by a powerful, independent regulator.

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• Plaid Cymru
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Education Minister Leighton Andrews says the Michael Gove letter means 'the days of three country regulation [of exams] are over.' He says the priority is now to ensure that a future Wales-only system has the confidence of students, schools, universities and employers.

Leighton Andrews also says that he's been in contact with his counterpart in Northern Ireland to look at the possibility of a joint regulatory system.

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Plaid Cymru's Education spokesperson, Simon Thomas, says the Gove letter has highlighted the need for urgent action by the Welsh Government to ensure confidence in an increasingly distinct Welsh exam system.

I have tabled an emergency question in the Senedd to get a discussion on the next steps for Wales. The Welsh Government must take urgent steps to ensure confidence in the system. Plaid Cymru is calling for the creation of Examinations Wales as an independent regulator as soon as possible to ensure confidence in the system and ensure standards do not fall.

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• Plaid Cymru

The Education Minister should 'stop having spats on Twitter' and concentrate on improving education standards, according to the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. But Kirsty Williams said she's 'relaxed' as a politician and as a mother, about the prospect of different exams in Wales and England.

Her comments follow a letter sent to Leighton Andrews by the Education Secretary Michael Gove suggesting that a separation of the exam system was now inevitable because of changes being looked at in the two countries. Kirsty Williams said it's 'perfectly possible' to have a credible Wales-only exam.

But she attacked as 'unbecoming of a government minister' the decision of Mr Andrews for taking to Twitter to respond to criticism from UK Government sources. She said 'sometimes it seems Leighton Andrews would rather spend his time having a row on twitter than concentrating on his job.'

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• GCSEs
• Leighton Andrews

Education Minister Leighton Andrews will face an urgent question in the Assembly on the letter from Education secretary Michael Gove. The Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler has allowed the urgent question to be raised in this afternoon's session.

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• GCSEs
• Michael Gove

A senior Plaid Cymru politicians says different exam systems in Wales and England could lead to higher standards in Wales. Rhodri Glyn Thomas was responding to the news of Education Secretary Michael Gove's letter to his Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts suggesting a split is on the cards.

The Plaid AM said he 'would welcome the opportunity to separate the exam system in Wales' from that of England and he rejected claims that it could lead to reduced standards, saying

I don't think it necessarily would lead to a situation where standards drop. I would hope it would lead to a situation where standards would rise.

• Politics
• GCSEs
• Michael Gove

The Education Minister, Leighton Andrews AM, has taken to Twitter this morning over the future of exams in Wales.

Read more: Gove letter may herald exam split

One of the benefits of devolution is that it allows England to be a laboratory for experiments.

From @LeightonAndrews on Twitter: ( 6:19 am, Tue 21 May 2013)

For the avoidance of doubt, Wales will continue to have GCSEs, A Levels and AS Levels. So will Northern Ireland. I don't know about England.

From @LeightonAndrews on Twitter: ( 6:18 am, Tue 21 May 2013)

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Michael Gove's letter as reported in the Guardian contains the suggestion that Wales and Northern Ireland may have to give up the titles 'GCSE' and 'A-level' if the systems are to diverge. The Welsh Government's official response is terse.

Wales is keeping GCSEs and A-levels, as is Northern Ireland. We wish Mr Gove well with his plans to rename these qualifications in England.

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• A-levels

Michael Gove's letter, which I understand the Welsh Government received this evening, marks acceptance by the UK Government of the of growing differences in the exam systems of the nations of the UK. Its tone is respectful and matches what sources described of the tone of last week's meeting.

But there's a more critical tone to remarks attributed to a 'Whitehall source' in the Guardian article who's quoted as saying:

The Welsh are determined to keep dumbing down their exams. Leighton Andrews interfered with exam boards last year. He opposes our attempts to toughen things up and made clear he will continue to interfere to make things easier. It's better that we all go our own way and defend our positions to our electorates.

Welsh Education Minister Leighton Andrews has taken to Twitter this evening to condemn those remarks.

So, @JohnODowdSF (Northern Ireland Education Minister) and I have a cordial meeting with Michael Gove in which he agrees to respect the different decisions in different countries

And a week later Whitehall sources, quoting directly from a comment in the meeting, start being offensive again.

So, for the record, I am happy to confirm that in that meeting Michael Gove apologised to me for his behaviour.

• Politics
• Leighton Andrews
• Michael Gove

The Education Secretary Michael Gove has written to the Welsh and Northern Irish Education ministers saying that 'the time is right' for the exam systems in Wales, England and Northern Ireland to separate. The Guardian reports that in the letter follows last week's meeting between the three men.

• Politics
• GCSEs
• Leighton Andrews