Draft Made-for-Wales specifications now available

Following a period of intense qualification development, we are pleased to announce that our draft specifications for the first wave of Made-for-Wales GCSEs and related qualifications are available to download. These 16 draft specifications have been submitted to Qualifications Wales for approval and will be available to teach from September 2025.

Commenting on this significant achievement, Delyth Jones, WJEC’s Assistant Director, Qualification Development (General Qualifications): “We are delighted to publish our draft specifications for these exciting new qualifications. I am grateful for the active participation of our writers and reviewers, our advisory groups, subject teams and our Qualification Development Team who have supported the development of these qualifications.

Throughout the development process, we have actively engaged and listened to a broad range of stakeholders and believe that each qualification will support a modern, inclusive and diverse educational system which reflects and supports the ambitions of the Curriculum for Wales.

Each qualification has been designed to inspire and engage learners across Wales, offering them with new and updated opportunities to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to flourish in a global market.”

Our draft specifications, designed to meet Qualifications Wales’ Approval Criteria, are available to view on the subject page:

These are our second submissions to Qualifications Wales, but they are not yet approved by them, however, we encourage teachers to review these as they indicate the content and assessment structure of each qualification. The final approved specifications will be published in September.

Please note, that the draft specification for GCSE Religious Studies will not be available this summer term. At this stage of the approval process, the content is not yet at a point where it would be helpful to teachers for us to publish the draft specification. Please be assured that we remain committed to publishing the approved specification for GCSE Religious Studies by no later than September 30th 2024.

Supporting the ambitions of the Curriculum for Wales

The qualifications have been developed with the Curriculum for Wales in mind. However, this won’t all be visible in the specification as that’s just the first part of the jigsaw. A comprehensive assessment pack for each qualification, including detailed assessment arrangements and sample assessment materials, will be published in December.

In addition, to support the delivery of these new qualifications, we will publish Guidance for Teaching in January; this Guidance will support teachers in preparing for assessment and will highlight opportunities for embedding aspects of the Curriculum for Wales into the delivery of the qualifications.

FREE resources and Professional Learning

We recently announced our package of FREE adaptable digital resources that we will publish to support these qualifications, further information is available via the following announcement.

Alongside these resources, we are also delivering a tailored schedule of online and face-to-face Professional Learning opportunities. These FREE nationwide courses are available to centres across Wales. Each course will be delivered by trained subject experts who will provide insight into each qualification and offer pragmatic advice and guidance. Further information on these courses, including our Pan Wales Roadshow is available here.

Stay up to date

To keep you up to date with the latest news, opportunities and FAQs regarding the new GCSEs and related qualifications, visit our ‘Made-for-Wales’ web area. This area hosts a wealth of material, including an introduction to our Qualification Development Team who are leading the creation of the new qualifications.