Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

School Standards in Wales

Wednesday 12 March 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Children in Wales have the lowest PISA scores in the United Kingdom and are significantly below the OECD average.
  • The Minister criticizes the Conservatives for underfunding education and public services while in power.
  • The Welsh Government announced an additional 20 million to improve education standards, on top of 262 million extra for education in Wales.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Ashley Fox Con Bridgwater
Education Wales
Context

The question follows the Welsh Government's budget vote, where Conservative colleagues attempted to block funding. The context is that children in Wales have low PISA scores and are below OECD average.

Question

Children in Wales have the lowest PISA —programme for international student assessment— scores in the United Kingdom and are significantly below the OECD average. Does the Minister believe that that could be related to 26 years of Labour government in Wales?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Dame Nia Griffith)

I will take no lectures from the Conservatives. Their attacks ring hollow given the chronic underfunding of education and public services over the 14 years they were in power. Now, the UK and Welsh Governments are working together to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to succeed, by investing over £260 million extra in education and more than £260 million in local government, which sets school budgets in Wales.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister avoided addressing whether poor educational performance is linked to Labour governance for 26 years.

How: I Will Take No Lectures From The Conservatives

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Gill German Lab Clwyd North
Education Wales
Context

The Welsh Government announced an additional £20 million for education last week, and the budget was voted against by Plaid Cymru and Conservatives.

Question

Does my hon. Friend welcome, as I do, the additional £20 million announced by the Welsh Government last week to improve education standards, on top of the £262 million extra in total for education in Wales? Is she as perplexed as I am as to why the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru voted against extra money for education in the Welsh budget?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Dame Nia Griffith)

Like my hon. Friend, I am absolutely astounded by the way that Plaid Cymru and Conservative Senedd Members voted against the budget, but the important thing is that this year the Welsh Government will be investing an additional £1.1 million in literacy, numeracy and science support in schools. The Welsh Government have also announced a £10 million investment package for literacy and numeracy in the coming year, increasing local capacity to support schools, national support programmes and interventions to support budding learners.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)