Plaid Cymru welcomes all recommendations from the Independent Review Panel interim report
Plaid Cymru Shadow Minister for Education, Siân Gwenllian MS said,
“Plaid Cymru has repeatedly made the case to replace 2021 exams with centre assessment grades. It is welcomed that the Independent Review Panel also comes to this conclusion and the Minister must heed this advice.
“Theirs is a proposal that places the wellbeing of the learner at the heart of the system and recognises the devastating impact of the pandemic on this cohort.
“With the recommendations from Qualifications Wales being published on the same day, the Education Minister now has two pieces of advice in front of her that differ in one very important aspect: Qualifications Wales recommends replacing timetabled exams with ‘external unit assessments.’ Surely this is exams by any other name?
“So many learners have faced prolonged absences from school due to self-isolation, nervousness in attending school in areas of high prevalence, or being ill themselves. A ‘one size fits all’ exam approach is not what this cohort needs right now.
“The Independent Review Panel raises important questions about the fairness of the current exam based approach, and the need for a better ‘whole programme’ approach to oversight and delivery. It is my belief that the Education Minister should accept all the recommendations from the Independent Review Panel, and reject those from Qualifications Wales.”
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