Plan to keep extra inset day in Wales for three more years

Teachers in Wales should continue to have an extra day for training for the next three years, ministers have said.

In-service training (Inset) days are when pupils do not go into school, but staff still attend.

Since 2019, the number of days has been increased from five to six to help prepare for the new curriculum.

The Welsh government is holding a consultation on the extra day which also focuses training on additional learning needs and equity in education.

It said the extra Inset days since 2019 had been heavily affected by Covid and were often used during the pandemic to develop blended learning skills, rather than focusing on the new curriculum, which was introduced in primary schools and some secondary schools earlier this month.

According to to the consultation document, the additional day "may cause difficulty for some parents or carers" and "there may be concern around the impact of learners losing an additional day of learning".

"However, we consider that this approach is essential to enable all practitioners to continue to develop their skills in order to support the changes to the education system in Wales, and to make a difference to teaching and learning in the classroom in the longer-term."

The consultation will last six weeks.