Speaking after the Deputy Minister, Jeff Cuthbert, announced the Welsh Government’s response to the Qualifications Review, Dr. Philip Dixon, Director of ATL Cymru said:
‘We welcome the Welsh Government’s renewed commitment to the retention of GCSEs and A levels. This provides stability for our young people and enables them to study tried and tested qualifications. They are not being used guinea pigs in some ill-thought through experiment like their colleagues across the border in England. We will need to show that these qualifications are rigorous, and that their quality is guaranteed by a regulator which is independent of government, to ensure that they have currency outside Wales. A full and reasoned debate about whether Qualifications Wales should also award these qualifications still needs to take place. We have a clear direction now for development and we hope the Welsh government will take full account of the expertise of the profession in developing a qualifications system fit for the twenty first century.’