Last updated on 27 April 2026
School improvement starts with one word.
Progression.
The Welsh Government has refreshed its School Improvement Guidance for schools in Wales, published on Hwb with a view to making it statutory. The message is clear. Improvement work should focus on progression and learner progress.
Here is a plain-English summary, written for headteachers, senior leaders and curriculum leads, with practical steps to start aligning your practice now.
What changed, in five lines
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Welsh Government refreshed the School Improvement Guidance in January 2026, with a view to making it statutory.
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The whole document is built around progression and learner progress.
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Every improvement activity should serve two national priorities: progression, and reducing the impact of poverty.
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Self-evaluation focuses on three areas: vision and leadership; learning, curriculum and teaching; well-being, equity and inclusion.
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Schools are expected to collaborate vertically across the 3 to 16 continuum, including foundation phase, primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units.
Section 2 · National priorities
The two national priorities
The Education (School Development Plan) (Wales) Regulations 2014, known as the SDP Regulations, set two priorities that should underpin every improvement activity in every school.
1
Improving pupils' progression
By ensuring their learning is supported by a range of knowledge, skills and experiences.
2
Reducing the impact of poverty
On learners' progression and attainment.
Section 3 · Starter questions
Two questions to start with
The guidance asks every school to use these two reflective questions as a starting point for improvement activities.
Question one
To what extent are learners progressing in the ways described in the principles of progression, supporting their development towards the four purposes?
Question two
To what extent are all learners' needs being met so that they can maximise their progress, and do we have high expectations for all?
Try this
Take both questions to your next SLT meeting. A single piece of data will not answer them. They are the questions that should sit underneath your self-evaluation, your school development plan, and your professional dialogue across the year.
Section 4 · Focus areas
Three focus areas for self-evaluation
The guidance asks schools to focus their evaluation on three connected areas. Together they describe what a strong school in Wales looks like.
Focus area 1
Vision, leadership & improvement
The conditions you create. Strategic improvement is driven through strong leadership and a collaborative learning culture.
Do staff feel safe to reflect, enquire and try things?
Focus area 2
Learning, curriculum & teaching
The day-to-day work that drives progression. Inclusive, high-quality teaching and curriculum design that move every learner forward.
Is curriculum design, teaching and assessment moving every learner forward?
Focus area 3
Well-being, equity & inclusion
The safety net underneath progression. Safe, inclusive environments that promote well-being and remove barriers to learning.
Are barriers being identified and removed for learners who face them?
Section 5 · Curriculum & teaching
The seven questions on learning, curriculum & teaching
This is the section most curriculum leads will return to.
How effectively does the school…
ensure meaningful progress for all learners, and in particular those facing barriers to learning?
ensure learner progress along a Welsh language continuum, including within school settings other than Welsh-medium?
secure high-quality teaching through assessment-informed, responsive practice that supports learner progression?
co-construct an inclusive curriculum, in line with the Curriculum for Wales framework, promoting a broad range of knowledge, skills and experiences?
act as a community-focused school that fosters positive partnerships to enrich learning and support inclusion?
actively listen to children and young people?
develop workforce capacity and capability, supported by investment in pedagogical enquiry and ongoing professional development for all?
Try this
Take this list to your next SLT or AoLE meeting and rate yourselves honestly against each of the seven. Which can you evidence with confidence? Which feel like work in progress? Which would benefit from collaborative enquiry across schools in your cluster?
Section 6 · Evaluation process
Self-evaluation as a continuous process
The guidance is clear: self-evaluation is a continuous process, built on professional dialogue and a shared understanding of progression. It is a habit, not a paper exercise produced once a year for an audit.
Triangulate the evidence
No single source tells the full story. Bring evidence together and reason about it openly.
The guidance is also explicit. No school should do this work in isolation. Developing a shared understanding of progression and expectations requires opportunities for professional dialogue, reflection and enquiry, both within the school and beyond it. The work of Schools as Learning Organisations (SLO) supports this approach.
Observations of learning should
Focus on the learner and their experience.
Take place in a supportive, open culture that encourages reflection and improvement.
Section 7 · 3 to 16 continuum
Vertical collaboration across the 3 to 16 continuum
One of the strongest themes in the updated guidance is collaboration across phases. Improving participation, progress and outcomes requires a coherent, connected approach from age 3 to 16 and beyond.
Foundation phase
ages 3-7
Primary
ages 5-11
Secondary
ages 11-16
Special schools
all phases
PRUs
pupil referral units
When phases plan together, learners:
Build on prior learning
Maintain momentum
Are well supported through key transitions
Why it matters most: for learners who face barriers to learning or are at risk of disengagement. A shared understanding of inclusive teaching and progression across the 3 to 16 continuum gives those learners the consistency they need.
If your cluster does not yet meet regularly to talk about progression, the new guidance is a strong reason to start.
"Developing a shared understanding of progression and expectations for learning requires opportunities for professional dialogue, reflection and enquiry, both within and beyond the school."
Welsh Government, School Improvement Guidance (January 2026)
Section 8 · Next steps
How to act on this in your school
You do not need to rewrite everything tomorrow. A practical approach for the rest of this year and into the next.
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1
Read the guidance with your SLT.
Agree the parts that are most relevant to your context. The seven questions on learning, curriculum and teaching are a good place to start.
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Audit your SDP against the two national priorities.
Are progression and the impact of poverty visible as the spine of the plan, or have they been bolted on at the end?
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Make expectations of progression explicit.
If learners, parents and staff cannot say what progression looks like in your school, that is the first thing to fix.
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Plan triangulated self-evaluation.
Pair every assessment data point with learner voice and an observation. Build the habit of looking at evidence in the round.
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Set up cluster dialogue.
Agree at least one shared piece of professional enquiry across your 3 to 16 cluster this year.
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Protect time for reflection.
Professional dialogue takes time. If it is not on the calendar, it will not happen.
Frequently asked questions
Is the new School Improvement Guidance statutory?
Not yet. As of January 2026 it is non-statutory guidance, published with a view to becoming statutory. The Welsh Government has signalled the direction of travel, so schools that align their practice now will be well placed when the guidance becomes statutory.
What are the two national priorities for school improvement in Wales?
The two national priorities, set by the SDP Regulations, are improving pupils' progression and reducing the impact of poverty on learners' progression and attainment. Every improvement activity in your school should serve at least one of these.
How does this guidance link to the Curriculum for Wales?
The guidance puts progression towards the four purposes at the centre of school improvement. Self-evaluation asks how well learners are progressing in the ways described in the principles of progression, and how well their needs are being met.
What evidence should we use for self-evaluation?
The guidance asks schools to triangulate observations of learning, learner voice, assessment data and contextual information. The aim is a rounded picture of progression, not a single headline number.
How does this affect Estyn inspection?
Estyn inspects under its own framework, but the focus areas in the new guidance (vision and leadership; learning, curriculum and teaching; well-being, equity and inclusion) closely mirror what Estyn looks for. Schools that do this self-evaluation work seriously will find inspection conversations more straightforward.
Adapted from the Welsh Government's School Improvement Guidance (updated January 2026). At the time of writing this is non-statutory guidance, published with a view to becoming statutory. Always check the latest version on Hwb before quoting it in your school development plan.
Make progression visible, shared and evidenced.
The new guidance is, at its heart, a call to make progression visible, shared and evidenced. That is what we built Rainbow Curriculum for.
Make expectations clear
Set out what progression looks like across every AoLE, mapped to What Matters statements and Descriptions of Learning.
Co-construct in one place
A shared workspace across phases and AoLEs, with cluster schools able to align expectations across the 3 to 16 continuum.
Show progress against your expectations
Reporting gives you an evidence base for self-evaluation and for honest conversations with learners, families and partners.
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