Commenting on reports that the current school banding system is to be supplemented by yet another categorisation scheme, Aled Roberts, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Education in the National Assembly, said:
“I have always been critical of the school banding system as I believe it is a crude and unsubtle means of measuring school performance.
“The Welsh Government needs to be clear about its intentions. The last thing the education system in Wales needs is a third categorisation system.
“Parents and education professionals need clarity and simplicity, not duplication. If a new system comes in, then banding must go. The Welsh Labour government can’t keep the current banding system purely because they are afraid to lose face.
“Banding has been characterised by wild fluctuations between bands, set quintiles which inhibit school improvement, and a lack of consistency with Estyn grades.
“Teachers need to teach, and should be allowed to concentrate on doing their jobs, not having to deal with three different and separate sets of assessment data.
“There is a danger here that the Welsh Labour Government is prioritising the collection of data rather than using that data to properly implement improvements in pupil performance”.
