News

Cautious welcome as government says it will revise Welsh banding system

Government policy
Wales’ controversial banding system for secondary schools is to be “revised”, the Welsh government has announced.

The move has been given a cautious welcome by union leaders who feel the system was having a “yo-yo effect” on schools – with some jumping several bands from one year to the next.

However, there is some concern over the introduction of a new grading system for primaries and that the new system overall might be too complicated.

Banding has been controversial since it was first introduced in 2011, but only in January of this year Wales’ education minister Huw Lewis insisted it was “here to stay”.

However, he revealed this week that the current system was being “reviewed” at secondary level.

He said: “The measures included in the current secondary school banding model are being reviewed to ensure that the model continues to align with our priorities for education in Wales, in particular with a focus on reducing the impact of deprivation on attainment.”

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