As you dip into the valley on the way into Merthyr Tydfil, a new earthy-toned building dominates the view.
asserted
building → dip → view
Excited staff and 940 pupils moved into the £50m complex at the start of September.
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staff → move → September
But they did so just as the Welsh education system was being painted in a less positive light, with Wales once again ranking the worst of UK nations in global tests.
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Wales → do → tests
"It casts doubt over a system we're proud of and children that we're proud of," says Sarah Hopkins, who's been a headteacher here for eight years.
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who → cast → years
She says it doesn't tell the full story but admits "it is disappointing".
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it → say → story
Welsh parents are currently thinking about the next steps for their children, with application deadlines for secondary school places at the end of this month.
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parents → think → month
That comes at a time when the test results pose difficult questions about why Wales has so clearly underperformed relative to its closest neighbours.
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Wales → come → neighbours
And with Wales's devolved government now run by a party other than Labour for the first time ever, can the new Plaid Cymru administration do what it's promised and improve standards?
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it → run → standards
A growing gap
Sarah Hopkins started teaching in 1998 - a year before the Welsh Assembly, now the Senedd, took over responsibility for education in Wales from Westminster.
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Assembly → grow → Westminster
In that time she's had to navigate many system-wide and school changes.
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she → have → changes
The latest challenge has been managing the big move from the old mishmash of 1960s-built classrooms to the vast new building.
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challenge → manage → building
But buildings alone do not drive excellence, and the gap between Wales and the other UK countries is getting wider.
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gap → drive → Wales
Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) measures teenagers' skills in reading, maths and science.
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Pisa → measure → reading
Sat by a sample of 15-year-olds – 3,406 in Wales in 2025, including some in Sarah Hopkins' school - it provides a snapshot of how education systems are performing.
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systems → sit → snapshot
On the day results were published, Wales' education Minister, Anna Brychan, euphemistically said they were "not where we want them to be".
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them → publish → day
Others called them catastrophic.
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Others → call → them
Wales first took part in the tests in 2006.
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Wales → take → 2006
But when the pandemic affected scores across the board in 2022, Wales fell back furthest.
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Wales → affect → 2022
And the gulf grew in the latest results.
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gulf → grow → results
The OECD, the global economic development body which runs Pisa, says that 20 points equates to roughly a year of learning.
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points → run → learning
That would mean Welsh 15-year-olds are about two years behind England's in reading, science and maths.
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olds → mean → reading
In reading, they also trail teenagers in Scotland and Northern Ireland by a year.
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they → trail → year
The tests alone don't capture everything schools do to support pupils, "whether that's a clean jumper, whether that's having a pen and a pencil" says Hopkins.
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Hopkins → capture → pen
But nobody in Wales is pretending there's nothing to worry about.
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nobody → pretend → Wales
Clear, red water
Soon after the devolved administration was established, the Welsh Labour government of the early 2000s used its powers over education and other public services to go off on a different course to Tony Blair's Labour government at Westminster - creating what the then Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan called "clear, red water".
asserted
Minister → establish → what
Secondary school league tables and standardised tests at seven, 11 and 14 (SATs) were scrapped.
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tables → standardise → seven
Poor Pisa results in 2010 brought about a drastic reappraisal.
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results → bring → reappraisal
Plain speaking Education Minister Leighton Andrews called the results a "wake-up call" for a "complacent" system and introduced a new raft of reforms.
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Andrews → speak → reforms
Alongside a literacy and numeracy drive, Andrews re-introduced accountability measures with annual reading and maths tests for seven-to-14 year olds, and a new school performance regime, called banding.
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- → re → olds
There were some parallels between the political styles of Andrews and the man in charge of England's schools system at the time, Conservative Michael Gove, who was on his own controversial education mission with an emphasis on high-stakes accountability.
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who → be → accountability
The two seemed to relish their occasional public spats over policy.
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two → seem → policy
But policies introduced by Andrews lost their bite over time.
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policies → introduce → time
The school banding system was changed and eventually dropped altogether during the pandemic.
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system → change → pandemic
Tests later evolved into personalised assessments.
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Tests → evolve → assessments
And the focus moved to developing a new curriculum in Wales, something which Andrews recently said was a "distraction" from efforts to drive up standards.
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Andrews → move → standards
Sir Nick Gibb, a former schools minister at Westminster who worked under Michael Gove, believes the main reason for Wales' Pisa woes is weak accountability.
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reason → work → woes
He says "schools are spending billions of pounds of public money and they're not being held to account for the results that they produce".
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they → say → that
He argues that focusing on the "science of learning" paid dividends with England's move up international education rankings.
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focusing → argue → move
Primary schools in England were told they had to use a structured form of phonics to teach young children to read.
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they → tell → children
This was reinforced with a phonics screening check for six-year-olds.
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This → reinforce → olds
…and 50 more, not listed.
The Aporia
