Covid: School inspections in Wales suspended until 2022

School inspections are to stay suspended until 2022, the Welsh government has announced.

Schools will also not be subject to the traffic light system for rating schools for the next academic year, as part of moves to ease pressures on teachers.

Both were suspended in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

Teaching unions welcomed the decision, saying it would have been a mistake if inspections had resumed in September.

The Conservatives said schools had to have "some form of scrutiny", while Plaid Cymru said more investment was needed to ensure children were not left behind.

Education minister Jeremy Miles said schools wanted to help pupils progress "but there are pressures that are affecting their ability to do this".

"I have listened and am taking action to support them," he added.

Measures requiring schools to report on metrics such as attainment and attendance are also being relaxed, with less data on school performance published.

There had been plans for inspections to resume this September, and there were calls for a delay so schools could focus on catch-up work.

Pilot inspections will take place in the spring term, but otherwise inspections will not happen before Easter 2022.

The Welsh government said Wales' inspection body Estyn will "pilot a new approach to inspections with schools' agreement in the spring term".

Laura Doel, of headteachers' union NAHT, welcomed the announcement.

"Schools in Wales were promised an inspection-free year to allow them to concentrate on new curriculum development," she said.

"For inspections to resume in September would have been a mistake and a distraction to the priority of Covid-19 recovery in schools."

The NEU teaching union said its members would be "heartened" by the decision - but also called for the new curriculum to be delayed to 2022.

"Although our members do welcome the new curriculum in principle, we need time to get this right," David Evans, the union's Wales secretary, said.

Welsh Conservative education spokeswoman Laura Anne Jones said there still needed to be "some form of scrutiny of attainment levels, just so we have a clearer picture as to how much the pandemic has impacted on learners, which is an important tool in forming future policy decisions".

"Potentially there are going to be underperforming schools going under the radar due to the suspension of inspections," she said.

"I understand the need to help manage teachers' workload, but parents do need reassurances that schools are doing all they can to support pupils."

Plaid's education spokeswoman Sian Gwenllian said: "The suspension of Estyn inspections and other measures announced is a welcome move but further details of the education minister's wider priorities need clarification.

"The Welsh government's spending on targeted support for pupils has been far lower than in other countries across the UK, and so more measures and more investment is needed to ensure a whole generation of children aren't left behind as a result of the pandemic," she said.