The Welsh Government's new curriculum is set to cost more than the top-end estimates it had been working to, an independent report has said. Audit Wales says that while it is difficult to accurately calculate the cost of curriculum reform current budgets suggest that direct expenditure may be at the high end of, or more than, the Welsh Government’s 2021 estimates. The report, published on Thursday, said the Welsh Government did not assess the direct or opportunity costs when it began to develop the new curriculum.
In 2021 it estimated that developing the new curriculum would cost £159m between 2015-16 and 2020-21 although it recognised this total does not include some costs. It also anticipated direct costs of £198.5m between 2021-22 and 2030-31. Recent Welsh Government budget papers suggest that spending is likely to be at the high end of, or more than, the April 2021 estimates. Schools also face substantial opportunity costs which are estimated by the Welsh Government at £263m between 2021-22 and 2025-26.
