We do indeed have initial feedback from PISA, but I'm not in a position to publish that because it’s their report and they want to publish the full findings, and I will do that in February.

With regard to the amendment, the quote in the amendment from the OECD is not a quote from the report. It is a quote from the statement issued by the OECD last week to the public. That’s the quote in the amendment today; that’s not a quote that is in any report that is yet to be published. It is in the statement that the OECD released last week on the publication of PISA.

Wales’s national PISA report, written by the Institute of Education, sets out that our maths and reading results are stable, but stable is not good enough. Our maths scores, since the last round of PISA, saw the biggest increase in the UK and of the higher performing countries that scored above 450, only four countries saw a bigger increase in maths over this period. The OECD, in their statement, have said that this is encouraging. The Government has successfully implemented the numeracy framework. We have reformed our GCSEs so that they properly assess the skills that we want our young people to have and that our economy so desperately needs. This momentum must continue, which is why I have established a new national network of excellence for mathematics, creating a network that involves schools, universities and the regional consortia working together.

The national literacy framework alongside the national reading and numeracy tests are the foundations for improving literacy and numeracy. These set high expectations, but I will continue to work with schools and the consortia to focus on reading, oracy and numeracy. I am particularly concerned that we reflect on reading and oracy. That has to happen before children actually go to school, which is why, across Government, we are working with parents of our very youngest children to help them develop the oracy skills that their children will need when they go into school at first.

Our science scores were particularly disappointing and there is a great deal of work that must be done. During my time as Cabinet Secretary, we will up our game on science GCSEs, going forward with rigour. I make no apologies for exposing the cynical and far too comfortable focus on BTEC. This was an easy way out that did not properly equip our young people.