Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 2 November 2016.
I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her answer. We have exchanged correspondence on this issue over the summer, therefore she’ll be aware that I have met with a headmaster in a local primary school who had conveyed concerns to me about the possibility for schools to present data in a misleading way in order to improve their categorisation. Now, in her response to me, the Minister said that her officials weren’t aware of any extensive concerns. But, since then, local teachers have contacted a newspaper to say that they have been put under pressure to treat the data in that way. So, could I ask the Cabinet Secretary to say if it’s possible to manipulate the data in the way that’s been suggested? And, if it is possible to do that, can we have an independent inquiry to see how extensive this is, and, more importantly, can we change the system in order to avoid a situation where teachers and headteachers are put under pressure to deal with the data in this way?