Education minister Huw Lewis has revealed his officials are in talks with inspectorate Estyn about using inspections to monitor how well poverty is being tackled.
Since his appointment in June, Mr Lewis has said that breaking the link between poverty and low attainment is his department’s number one priority.
He said the Welsh government is also considering if more needs to be done to make clear to schools that the controversial “banding” system is specifically geared to reflect how much help they give to pupils from less affluent backgrounds.
Speaking at a conference organised by Save the Children, Mr Lewis said “the statistics make for depressing reading”, adding “we cannot and will not accept poverty and inequality for a fifth of our children”.
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