At Impact Wales, we believe that every learner deserves an education grounded in fairness, informed by evidence, and focused on lasting impact. From Evidence to Equity: A Manifesto for Lasting Impact sets out a practical, research-driven vision for a fairer education system in Wales – one that empowers schools and teachers to use what works, and ensures that every child, despite their background, has the opportunity to succeed.

As Wales prepares for the 2026 Senedd elections, this manifesto offers ten clear, actionable steps to help policymakers and practitioners alike close the gap between aspiration and achievement. Each step draws on the strongest available evidence – the “best bets” for improving outcomes – and emphasises the importance of targeted support for the learners who need it most.

This is not a call for more initiatives, but for doing things better: policy built on research, practice shaped by evidence, and progress measured by equity. Together, we can create a system where fairness is not a slogan but a lived reality for every learner in Wales.

1. School funding

a. Commit to increasing funding so that no school in Wales operates a deficit budget by 2028.
b. Increase the PDG funding and ensure it is paid directly to schools to target disadvantage more effectively.

2. Closing the disadvantage gap

a. Publish clear national guidance for schools on early reading that explicitly endorses Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) as the best effective approach to decoding, based on the best available evidence.
b. Introduce a Year 1 phonics screening check benchmarked against reading to identify early decoding challenges.
c. Provide schools with an approved list of SSP programmes from those that have already been externally validated and shown real world use (e.g. DfE, Mississippi).
d. Fully fund SSP training for all primary ITE students and current primary school teachers & secondary school English and 1st language Welsh teachers.

3. Curriculum for Wales

a. Specify core curriculum knowledge for all subjects within each Area of Learning that constitutes 30% of curriculum time for that subject across all year groups 3-16.
b. Require all primary schools to base their reading curriculum development on ‘Primary Reading Simplified’ by Chris Such, ensuring alignment with evidence-based practice.

4. Assessment

a. Use national assessments for literacy, numeracy and a rolling programme of other core curriculum knowledge to monitor how effectively pupils are learning the expected curriculum for their age.
b. Keep national assessment results confidential and use them diagnostically to trigger targeted support from expert professional learning teams who work alongside staff in school during the support period.

5. ALN

a. Amend the ALN Code so that statutory expectations align with the resources currently available to schools.
b. Expand early years interventions and pre-school support for children at risk of ALN, ensuring earlier and more effective support.

6. Teacher recruitment and retention

a. Reframe education as a shared societal responsibility to restore respect for the teaching profession and attract high-quality recruits.
b. Increase the non-contact professional learning time for teachers in areas of deprivation by 10% and provide access to high quality, evidence-informed professional learning focused on closing the disadvantage gap
c. End the long-term use of TAs, LSAs, HLTAs and cover supervisors for class cover, ensuring every pupils is taught by a qualified teacher.

7. Workload

a. Increase the non-contact time for all teachers by 5% by 2026/27 academic year to protect planning and professional learning time.
b. Provide centrally developed year-group plans for the 30% core curriculum, including model learning objectives, tasks, and assessment approaches, to reduce duplication and workload.

8. Middle Tier

a. Require all Estyn inspectors to undertake externally accredited training in the science of learning to ensure consistency between inspection and evidence-based pedagogy.
b. Use Dysgu to deliver a national professional learning curriculum grounded in the science of learning and accessible to all practitioners.

9. Professional Learning

a. Establish a national quality assurance framework for all publicly funded professional learning.
b. Align professional learning provision directly with schools’ needs.

10. Social media

Institute a nationwide ban on pupils bringing mobile phones to school to protect learning, wellbeing and behaviour.