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I hope the new academic year has begun positively for you all. As we continue our journey to develop a new suite of Made-for-Wales qualifications, I want to reaffirm our commitment to supporting you and your teams.

We are delighted to announce the approval of the first wave of our Made-for-Wales qualifications, where teaching will begin from September 2025. These qualifications are designed to address Wales' unique educational landscape and prepare learners for future challenges and opportunities. You can now download the approved specifications from our subject pages. While our reformed GCSE in Religious Studies is going through final checks, we're confident it will be approved in the coming weeks. The draft specification is available to view online.

To support our teachers and lecturers deliver these new qualifications with confidence, we've developed a comprehensive support package. This includes a bespoke Professional Learning programme with flexible offerings, including face to face, designed to fit the busy schedules of teachers and lecturers.

Complementing this, our Digital Resources Team is producing a suite of Made-for-Wales resources, these will be published beginning in the winter term. Our new resources will feature adaptable elements, allowing easy customisation to suit each centre's unique learning context and learners' diverse needs.

Additionally, we've updated our dedicated Made-for-Wales FAQs to include information about standards and awarding, digital non-assessment examination (NEA) submission, on-screen assessments and Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs).

To mark the approval of these qualifications, we recently hosted a celebratory event at Cardiff High School. This event underlined how vital your input and our co-construction approach have been in shaping these qualifications, providing an opportunity to meet with our stakeholders and celebrate the approval of our specifications.

To showcase our qualification development journey, I look forward to presenting at the upcoming Policy Insight Wales conference. I will be presenting, alongside members of our Qualification Development Team to demonstrate how our qualification development process ensures that these new qualifications align with the aims and ambitions of the Curriculum for Wales.  

Made-for-Wales Wave 2: Continuing our co-constructive approach

As we start to develop the second wave of our Made-for-Wales qualifications, we will continue our co-construction approach and actively engage with a broad range of stakeholders. Your input and feedback have been key in shaping our qualifications, and we want this collaborative spirit to continue. We look forward to working closely with you to create qualifications that are relevant, inclusive, and empower learners across Wales.

Diversity and inclusivity remain a cornerstone of our development work, and we will continue our ongoing partnership with Diversity and Anti-Racism Professional Learning (DARPL). This will ensure that each qualification fosters inclusivity and inspires learners by offering them material that truly resonates with them and reflects our rich cultural diversity.

Celebrating success

Early this month, we gathered at the Nidum Theatre in Neath College for the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales celebration. This event was designed to celebrate the effort and commitment of teachers, stakeholders, and learners across Wales since the qualification’s launch in September 2023. We were delighted to see the wide range of work that learners taking the qualification had produced.

Turning to our learners’ achievements, I had the pleasure of seeing the creativity in learners’ work at our recent Innovation Exhibition. The sheer ingenuity and fresh thinking in their projects will surely make it difficult for the judges to choose a winner. I look forward to the upcoming Innovation Awards Ceremony in December.

Meeting with our schools and colleges

We continue to welcome open dialogue with our educational community. As part of this commitment, I recently visited Ysgol Penglais in Aberystwyth and have an upcoming visit to St Joseph's Catholic and Anglican High School in Wrexham. If you would like to arrange a visit, please contact me via lorna.turner@wjec.co.uk.

On behalf of everyone at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, I want to thank you for your ongoing support, dedication, and professionalism. Together, we are shaping a bright future for education in Wales.

I wish you all the very best for the academic year ahead.

Yours sincerely,

Ian