Reaching a milestone in our qualification development process.
Message from our Chief Executive, Ian Morgan:
As schools and colleges return from what I hope was a restful Easter break and we begin preparations for the upcoming summer series, I want to take the time to reflect on a successful start of the year for WJEC. With continuous positive stakeholder engagement our journey towards developing a new suite of Made-for-Wales GCSEs and related qualifications has advanced to the next phase.
Working at pace, our publication timeline for our new qualifications is on track. We were pleased to publish our qualification outlines in early January, which has given our teaching communities the opportunity to understand the structure and associated assessments for our new qualifications.
Since achieving this milestone, our Qualification Development Team has continued to engage and collaborate as they develop our draft specifications. We are now pleased to confirm that the first group of qualifications, for teaching from September 2025 have been submitted to Qualification Wales for their approval. We look forward to receiving their feedback and hope to share our updated draft specifications with our teachers in the summer term.
Alongside the development of our qualifications, our teams have also been preparing materials to support the delivery of these new qualifications, including a comprehensive bilingual schedule of Professional Learning opportunities. These will be delivered nationwide, and include a mixture of face-to-face and online courses, which will be delivered by our subject experts. Each course is designed to guide teachers in the delivery and assessment of these new qualifications and will be available to centres across Wales for free.
I would like to thank the support of the Welsh Government, Local Authorities, Regional Consortia and CYDAG who have enabled our team to facilitate teachers’ access to our “Preparing to Teach” series of face-to-face events. Further information on this schedule and additional support will be announced in due course.
In addition to the development of the new Made-for-Wales qualifications, Qualifications Wales has recently announced an exciting new suite of qualifications as part of their ‘Full 14-16 Qualifications’ offer. Our teams are actively working with Qualifications Wales, and reviewing ways in which we can expand our current portfolio to enhance the opportunities for learners across Wales.
To further promote our important development work, last month I was honored to speak at a Policy Forum for Wales event, where I had the opportunity to present our approach to the design and implementation of our new qualifications. I was extremely grateful for the enthusiastic response to our approach and for the constructive feedback I received from the delegates.
Alongside these exciting developments I also had the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our learners during our 10th Moving Image Awards. At this event we celebrated the best moving image productions from students undertaking our qualifications in Film and Media at the iconic British Film Institute, London. The entire event was an utter success and the work produced by these future filmmakers highlights the bright future ahead of them.
This year we also announced the second round of recipients for our Gareth Pierce Bursary. Two learners from Aberystwyth and one from Cardiff University have received a bursary of £3,000 each to contribute towards their studies of Mathematics through the medium of Welsh. It is an honor to see this bursary grow in popularity, which is a testament to the passion and commitment shown by our former Chief Executive to the Welsh language and mathematics.
Last term I also had the pleasure of visiting St David’s College in Cardiff and Haverfordwest High VC School in Pembrokeshire, where I had an opportunity to sit down with the Principal, Headteacher and members of the teaching staff, as well as panels of learners, to discuss topics such as revision resources, professional learning and our new qualifications. I thoroughly enjoy visiting our schools and colleges, as it not only allows the teachers and learners to feel heard but also an opportunity to discuss how we can enhance the support we offer.
The coming term is extremely busy for us, as we continue on our qualification development journey, and begin delivering the assessments for the summer examination series, however, our teams remain committed to supporting you throughout this period and beyond. For now, I wish you the very best in the coming term and look forward to sharing more important updates with you in the near future.
Ian Morgan.