PISA RESULTS

September 8th, 2026  

UCAC shares the general disappointment with the PISA results again this year.

UCAC General Secretary, Ioan Rhys Jones, said:

‘Whatever your views on PISA as a way of assessing education, this year’s results are disappointing.

However, it must be acknowledged that PISA only provides a quick snapshot of the education system, across a limited range of skills.  We must also remember that only a sample of schools participate in these tests every three years. Having said that, it is clear that there is a need to plan improvements, and attention should be accorded to basic skills across the country.

We can only hope that the Curriculum for Wales, once fully established, will provide a solid foundation for learners and that the new Foundation Literacy and Numeracy Framework will be a means to plan, benchmark, and ensure national improvement in the years to come.

It is crucial that all improvement plans consider all aspects of education, including the community and the home.  We would welcome robust financial investment in our schools, therefore leading ultimately to an improvement in standards.  The education workforce is currently working hard under challenging circumstances. Hopefully, we will see the present government appreciating the importance of investing in education, thus providing solid and strong foundations for our students, who are our future.’  

CONGRATULATIONS

12 May 2026

UCAC congratulates Plaid Cymru on their victory in the Senedd Cymru elections. Given his background, we are confident that our new First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, has awareness and understanding of the world of education. We look forward with anticipation to seeing Plaid Cymru tackle the major and real challenges facing education in Wales today. The Union has already expressed its frustration and disappointment about the state of education in recent years. UCAC’s manifesto for the Senedd elections states: ‘It is clear that the core issues for ensuring educational success have not been resolved over the [past] decades.’ We have heard a raft of promises with regards to improving teachers’ working conditions.  Our hope is that the new Government will offer us more than promises, and that we will see firm and effective action that delivers genuine and positive outcomes, for the benefit of our education workforce.

We welcome the importance accorded to education by Plaid Cymru and look forward to seeing the Party act immediately, in line with what they promised in the document ‘The First 100 Days’. Plaid Cymru noted in that document that ‘education will be at the very heart of a Plaid Cymru government’s ambition for Wales – the key to unlocking new and better opportunities, and building the more confident, innovative and productive nation we know Wales can be.’ In ‘The First 100 Days’, the Party set out the areas it wants to focus on in the early period – raising standards; a wrap-around approach to behaviour, attendance and wellbeing; a schools estate that’s fit for purpose; smartphones in schools; and a sustainable higher education sector. We are confident that we will be able to contribute to the initial steps in these areas, as well as sharing our wider concerns and aspirations with the new Minister for Education, once appointed. Our Annual Conference was held in mid-April and at that conference a number of motions were passed which, we hope, we will be able to share and discuss with the Minister.

This is a new and exciting period in Wales’s history. Amid the excitement and hope, we want to emphasise how important it is for the new Government to give serious consideration to the education sector, as it has promised. The new First Minister has already stated that he has ‘the desire to make a difference to what matters in people’s lives.’  We will be ready to work collaboratively, to challenge, and to hold him to accoun