Thank you for that, Vikki. I should have—. Apologies to Llyr because I didn’t address the question about my ongoing commitment to PISA and how important it is. I do believe PISA is important. It is my absolute determination to continue to participate in the PISA study. We do need to see it as an important test, not of individual schools and not of individual pupils, which is what GCSEs are about, but it is a reflection on the health of our system as a whole. They measure different things, I believe. But you’re right, there has previously been a disconnect between the types of skills that are best tested in PISA, and allow pupils to do well in PISA, and the nature of our GCSEs.

Our GCSEs are not changing to enable us to do better at PISA. Our GCSEs are changing to ensure that they are fit for purpose, modern, testing, stretching, but also ensuring that the children have the skills that they need to go on to further study or into the world of work; but the way in which they are being taught and the way in which they are being examined are better aligned to the type of knowledge and skills that children also need to participate and do well in PISA. Our new maths qualifications are a very good example of that, with what I would regard as pure maths and calculations and applied mathematics in terms of numeracy—the ability to use a mathematical technique to solve a real-life problem—and that’s why we have gone down that path.

In terms of our English, for instance, we still consider the ability to present orally as an important part of how we grade English GCSE—something that’s gone out of the window in England. But their ability to read competently and speak competently, which is still part of our English GCSE, is something that is tested in PISA. So, I think there is greater alignment going forward, but we’re not doing it so we can just do better in PISA, we’re doing it because our GCSEs will better prepare our children for the challenges that they will face when they leave school or go on to study at a higher level.