The Seventh Senedd has debated schools mainly through the PISA results and the new foundational literacy and numeracy plan, and through funding for additional learning needs (ALN) in the supplementary budget. Other themes were pay for school support staff, mobile phones, behaviour and attendance, teacher recruitment, and school funding and closures. Reform UK and the Conservatives pressed on standards. Labour pressed on ALN money and support staff.
The main arguments
On PISA, First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru) called the results deeply disappointing and published a literacy and numeracy plan. Helen Jenner (Reform UK) called it a national emergency. Sam Rowlands (Welsh Conservatives) urged learning from England. Contributions: [1][2]
May 2021Mar 2026
2,028 contributions in the Sixth Senedd touched on this. The busiest month was Feb 2024, with 188.
Who raises it
Labour53%
Conservative29%
Plaid18%
Lib Dem0%
Independent0%
Share of the 1,456 contributions on this subject, by the speaker's party.
Minister Anna Brychan (Plaid Cymru) set out year-by-year expectations, phonics guidance, a baseline assessment and a year 6 indicator. She ruled out standardised tests and league tables. Stephen Senior (Reform UK) asked for standardised annual tests. Contributions: [1][2][3]
On the curriculum, Anna Brychan (Plaid Cymru) committed to Curriculum for Wales with a targeted review. Catherine Cullen (Reform UK) said it adds to teacher workload. Stephen Senior (Reform UK) argued key stage 4 is too squeezed. Contributions: [1][2][3]
On ALN funding, Lynne Neagle and Ken Skates (Welsh Labour) said the UK consequentials should reach schools. Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) described how the funding was earmarked. Anthony Slaughter (Wales Green Party) backed the ALN allocation. Sam Rowlands (Welsh Conservatives) wanted more than one year's certainty. Contributions: [1][2][3][4][5]
On school support staff, Lynne Neagle (Welsh Labour) argued for a negotiating body and year-round pay. Minister Anna Brychan (Plaid Cymru) said Welsh Government lacks pay powers. Helen Jenner (Reform UK) opposed a new quango. Contributions: [1][2][3]
On behaviour and phones, Sam Rowlands and Darren Millar (Welsh Conservatives) and Helen Jenner (Reform UK) asked for a statutory phone ban. Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru) backed zero tolerance of violence in schools. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
On teachers and school budgets, Anna Brychan (Plaid Cymru) cited up to £20,000 for shortage-subject trainees. Helen Jenner (Reform UK) asked how retention would improve. Darren Millar (Welsh Conservatives) asked about a national school funding formula. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Where the parties stand
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru Members, in government, put raising standards first. They point to the literacy and numeracy plan, teacher recruitment incentives and free school meals extended to secondary pupils on universal credit. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Welsh LabourShifted
Welsh Labour Members press for ALN consequential funding for schools and for a support staff negotiating body. They defend their record on free school meals and the pupil development grant. Contributions: [1][2][3]
How this has shifted: In July Labour said Plaid offered too little for ALN. By October Ken Skates and Huw Thomas welcomed a £60 million deal, while saying more is needed.
Welsh Conservatives
Welsh Conservatives Members say standards have fallen. They want a Wales-wide phone ban, stronger discipline, learning from England and a look at a national funding formula. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Reform UK
Reform UK Members focus on PISA results, behaviour, phones, curriculum workload and teacher retention. They oppose a new support staff quango and ask for measurable targets. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Wales Green Party
Wales Green Party Members back support staff and said rejecting the ALN funding in the supplementary budget would play politics with school funding. Contributions: [1][2]
Welsh Liberal Democrats
Jane Dodds (Welsh Liberal Democrats) raised young carers in schools and called for more funding for Powys to expand Welsh-medium education. Contributions: [1][2]
What the government is being pressed on
1Labour asked how much of the UK consequentials for ALN would go to schools. Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) said the funding came from the write-off of English councils' SEN debts and was earmarked alongside reserves. A £60 million deal followed. Contributions: [1][2][3]
2Helen Jenner (Reform UK) asked what the literacy and numeracy targets are and by when. Anna Brychan (Plaid Cymru) said Government would set a baseline and trajectory and share it, without standard tests or league tables. Contributions: [1][2]
3Members asked when Wales will have a statutory phone ban as England does. Helen Jenner (Reform UK) said the First Minister pointed to guidance and school choice, and said schools read guidance differently. Contributions: [1][2][3]
4Labour asked the government to deliver the support staff negotiating body. Minister Anna Brychan (Plaid Cymru) said pay is set by councils and schools, and that she is open to statutory or non-statutory options. Contributions: [1][2]
5Darren Millar (Welsh Conservatives) pressed on falling attendance. Helen Jenner (Reform UK) pressed on violence against staff. Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru) backed zero tolerance and joint work across agencies. Contributions: [1][2][3]
What the public is asking for
A petition from NAHT Cymru asking for the full ALN consequential funding to be allocated gained 11,451 signatures and is closed. A petition for Benedict's Law and updated guidance on allergies in schools has 1,648 signatures.
Who ministers are meeting
Ministers have met Qualifications Wales, Estyn, and headteacher groups including the Ministerial Headteacher Advisory Group and a headteacher roundtable. They also met ALN Reform Wales, Swim Wales and councils, and visited schools.
In the Sixth Senedd (2021 to 2026)
From the previous Senedd's record, for issues that run across both. The rest of this analysis covers the Seventh Senedd only.
In the Sixth Senedd, schools debates covered the pandemic's effect on learning, the roll-out of Curriculum for Wales, and falling PISA results. ALN reform, school budgets, free school meals and mobile phones were also argued over. Labour ministers and opposition parties disagreed on standards and funding.
Jeremy Miles (Welsh Labour) said Wales improved in all three PISA domains in 2018 and that Covid affected progress. Tom Giffard (Welsh Conservatives) said 20 per cent of leavers were functionally illiterate. Lynne Neagle (Welsh Labour) disputed that claim. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Laura Anne Jones (Welsh Conservatives) said schools lacked money to deliver ALN support. Sioned Williams (Plaid Cymru) cited a report on a deepening school funding crisis. Jane Dodds (Welsh Liberal Democrats) cited school deficits in Powys. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Jeremy Miles (Welsh Labour) delayed Curriculum for Wales preparation in light of the pandemic, to give schools more space. Heledd Fychan (Plaid Cymru) supported the new curriculum but raised workforce capacity concerns. Contributions: [1][2]
On phones, Hefin David (Welsh Labour) reported learners and young carers valuing access to devices. Gareth Davies (Welsh Conservatives) said phones are a major impediment to education. Contributions: [1][2]
Written by AI on 30 October 2026 from 236 contributions in the Senedd between 12 May 2026 and 22 October 2026, with the petitions and ministers' meetings on this brief. Each point links to the contributions it draws on; check them before quoting. How the analysis is written.
Where things stand
Statistics published by the Welsh Government. Each chart covers the years since the 2016 Senedd election, or as far back as the figures go, and marks each election since.
Secondary school attendance
89.1%
2025/26
A year earlier
89.0%(2024/25)
The share of possible half-day sessions attended by pupils aged 11 to 15 in maintained schools, from the start of each school year to the spring bank holiday at the end of May.
This series has no figures for the school years 2019/20 to 2021/22.
The Programme for Government 2026 to 2030 belongs to the Seventh Senedd. Choose the Seventh Senedd to see how often each commitment has come up.
Raising standards
Publish a Literacy and Numeracy Plan and raise standards by establishing national targets, including a baseline assessment for learners entering school. We will support our workforce to develop individual targets for all learners.
Review curriculum and assessment arrangements to simplify and clarify expectations for schools and settings. This will include ensuring clear expectations for knowledge and education about our nation’s culture and history.
Develop a coordinated framework bringing together schools, health and social care, and youth services to address behaviour, attendance, wellbeing and educational inequality. These also reflect wider societal issues, and we will work across government to address them. We will improve professional learning, reporting of incidents and information sharing between schools, and test implementation through our Community Schools Plus pilots.
Strengthen the long‑term sustainability of the Additional Learning Needs system. We will work in partnership, including with health partners, to strengthen system clarity, capacity and workforce confidence to deliver inclusive education in Welsh and English, so that children and young people receive the right support at the right time to meet their needs.
Grow the proportion of children and young people receiving Welsh‑medium education, and improve accessibility to Welsh‑medium education, setting local targets to ensure the steady growth of Welsh‑medium provision in all schools.
Increase the number of students able to access tertiary pathways in Welsh, supporting and developing the work of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and working with the Coleg and Medr to increase opportunities to study Welsh as a subject.
Support an increase in the number of teachers able to teach through the medium of Welsh, promoting and developing the Welsh‑language skills of practitioners and developing new sabbatical opportunities.
Improve recruitment and retention by reducing workload, providing more flexibility for planning, preparation and assessment and supporting high‑quality professional development for all teachers, leaders and teaching assistants.
Build on our increase of the Initial Teacher Education Priority Subject Incentive from £15,000 to £20,000 to help attract more teachers into shortage subjects and explore opportunities to increase this further.
Strengthen safeguarding leadership and governance across education by ensuring learners and educators can recognise and report grooming. We will provide comprehensive digital safety and media literacy education, and ensure safeguarding and educational standards are consistently upheld and independently scrutinised.
Source: Welsh Government, Programme for government 2026 to 2030: New ambition for Wales, first published on 10 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Mentions are found by matching the names of plans, bodies and schemes; a mention says nothing about progress.
Key moments in the Senedd
Statements, debates and legislation in Plenary on this brief, newest first. Oral question sessions are counted in the contributions below.
Each bar is the share of that party's speeches and questions in the Sixth Senedd that touched this brief, so large and small parties can be compared. The upright line marks the chamber as a whole: 1.0%.
Ministers' meetings with outside organisations and their engagements on this brief, from the register the Welsh Government publishes every three months. 1 since the 2026 election:
11 June 2026
Announcement of Increase in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Priority Subject Incentive at Ysgol Gymraeg Gwynllyw
39% of Welsh adults said education and schools would be very important to their vote.
Ipsos asked 747 Welsh adults aged 16+ between 2 April 2026 and 8 April 2026, before the 2026 Senedd election. People could choose as many issues as they liked. More on public opinion.
Written questions
209 written questions to the Welsh Government on this brief in the Sixth Senedd, 204 answered so far. The latest:
On Wednesday (25 March) Members of the Senedd will debate the Children, Young People and Education (CYPE) Committee’s report on Teacher recruitment and retention.
Contributions tagged in each month of the Sixth Senedd. No sittings were held in August 2021, August 2022, August 2023, December 2024, February 2025, March 2025, April 2025, May 2025, June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025 and December 2025.Show the numbers
Month
Contributions
May 2021
8
June 2021
17
July 2021
17
August 2021
No sittings
September 2021
27
October 2021
18
November 2021
27
December 2021
62
January 2022
49
February 2022
23
March 2022
98
April 2022
6
May 2022
51
June 2022
68
July 2022
34
August 2022
No sittings
September 2022
60
October 2022
36
November 2022
27
December 2022
How this brief is put together
This brief follows the Programme commitments listed above and tags the record with the phrases below. Keyword matching can miss business that discusses the issue in other words, and can tag a passing mention.
Show the phrases it uses
A contribution is tagged when its English text contains one of these phrases. Capital letters don't matter, except in abbreviations, which must match exactly. It is also tagged when the title of the agenda item or question it was part of contains one, as long as the contribution is at least 30 words long. The brief is also tagged whenever one of its themes is.
