This chapter outlines the principal characteristics of the education and training system in Wales. It describes the fundamental principles, national policies and legislative basis for early childhood education and care, school education, higher education, and further and adult education and training. It sets out the organisation of the education system and its structure, explains policy for lifelong learning and describes the national qualifications framework. It also outlines the administration and governance framework at national, local and institutional levels, basic statistics on education institutions, and the organisation of private education.

The Welsh Government has overall responsibility for national policies relating to the education and training system in Wales. Within the Welsh Government, the lead minister with responsibility for education is the Minister for Education. 

Supporting bodies

While the Welsh Government is supported by the central and local decision-making, regulatory and/or advisory bodies described briefly below, publicly funded educational institutions at all levels enjoy a high degree of autonomy, counterbalanced by a strong system of accountability.

The Welsh Government works with:

• Qualifications Wales, which is a government funded, independent statutory organisation, responsible for regulating qualifications other than higher education degrees.
• The Education Workforce Council (EWC), which is the independent regulator of teachers in maintained schools, further education teachers, and learning support staff, and which maintains a register of education practitioners in Wales.
• The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) which was established in March 2019 as an independent body with the responsibility to make recommendations to the Welsh Government on the pay and conditions of school teachers and leaders in Wales. The independent Secretariat for the IWPRB is provided by the Education Workforce Council (EWC).
• Local authorities (LAs), which have a duty to secure the provision of compulsory education at primary and secondary level. LAs in Wales are grouped in four regional education consortia which work together to deliver school improvement services and share good practice, knowledge and skills.
• The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), which regulates fee levels at higher education institutions (HEIs), ensures a framework is in place for assessing the quality of higher education, and scrutinises higher education institutions' performance. The Welsh Government plans to replace the HEFCW with a single, strategic authority – the Tertiary Education and Research Commission for Wales – which will be responsible for overseeing both higher and further education.

Quality assurance

Estyn, the office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales, provides advice and guidance to the Welsh Government on quality and standards in education and training. It is responsible for inspecting pre-school education, schools, initial teacher training, further education, adult community learning and work-based learning. Estyn publishes a report for each inspection it completes and the Chief Inspector publishes an annual report. Estyn was established under the Education (Schools) Act 1992. It is independent of the National Assembly for Wales, but receives its funding from the Welsh Government under Section 104 of the Government of Wales Act 1998.