The challenges young people will need to overcome in the future transcend their employability qualities. They need to understand what knowledge and skills are valuable in the world, how these are used by those with different forms of power, and why this curricula content is important for them to acquire and own. A curriculum for genuine equality and equity must be anti-imperialist, support the institutions of democracy and community, and encourage teachers and schools to find diverse pathways of interest and engagement for all pupils.
Fundamental to any curriculum is how outcomes are conceived. These typically reflect some of form of assessment of learning, designed to measure competence, regulate future competition for work or academic progression and provide accountability (Broadfoot, 2012). After a long, and for many frustrating, wait, teachers in Wales now know that pupils at the end of their compulsory school education will have the opportunity to sit new ‘Made for Wales’ GCSEs. The lack of clarity about how learners would be assessed and what qualifications they could expect to leave school with has been a source of tension as the Curriculum for Wales (CfW) has been developed and this year rolled out.
Qualification Wales (QW) is the Welsh Government-sponsored body responsible for the recognition of awarding bodies and approval of these qualifications. They have published approval criteria (AC) that examination boards, such as the Welsh Joint Education Committee, will need to use to design specifications for the 28 new GCSEs. Each AC document sets out what examination boards will need to present in their rationale, including subject content, experiences that learners should have and assessment requirements.
