Written question WQ92367

A range of official statistics are published about the skills of young adults and learning achievement of children and young people in schools, post-16 education and higher education. These include annual data on:

• Performance measures for post-16 learning achievement, with information on A Levels and vocational education, Welsh Government

• Learner outcome measures for apprentices, Welsh Government

• Qualifications obtained by Welsh residents studying at Higher Education institutes across the UK, Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

• Highest qualification levels of working age adults, including a breakdown for 18 to 24 year olds, Welsh Government

The Employer Skills Survey includes information from the employer perspective on the skills they require, the skills of their existing workforce, and whether they can access required skills from the labour market. This includes whether they recruited education leavers in the last 2-3 years, whether those recruited were prepared, and what the reasons were if they weren’t. The survey typically takes place every two years.

Statistical releases are also published annually on GCSE and A level examination results for pupils in Year 11 and pupils aged 17 by the Welsh Government. On an interim basis, whilst we progress the development of a reformed information ecosystem for schools, this includes the Capped 9 indicator (interim measures version), Literacy indicator, Numeracy indicator, Science indicator, and the Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate indicator, all based on point scores.

In November 2023, we published the first report on national-level patterns of attainment in reading and numeracy which includes the differences in attainment between different year groups of learners in schools, using personalised assessments data. This information will be published on a regular basis to inform policy-making and future research.

As outlined in the Curriculum Evaluation Plan, we are undertaking scoping and design work for an ambitious programme of national sample-based monitoring assessments across the breadth of the new curriculum. These assessments will allow us to understand how well the Curriculum for Wales is serving our children and young people and provide a rolling picture of national standards in learning.

Most of this published data are accredited official statistics which means that they comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics, and outputs will contain information about the quality of the data presented.