PHYSICS education is at breaking point in Wales due to a lack of teachers, yet training bursaries are £14,000 higher across the border in England, a committee heard.

Eluned Parrott, head of Wales at the Institute of Physics, warned Wales had fewer physics-trained teachers (174) than secondary schools (205) in 2024.

She told the Senedd’s education committee no one measure is going to be a silver bullet but evidence shows teacher training incentives work.

“That’s why we’re calling on the Welsh Government to increase our physics teacher trainee bursary from £15,000 to match England’s £29,000,” she said.

“We need a bold reset to recruit, retain and retrain the next generation of physics specialists to help secure the future of physics in Welsh schools.”

Ms Parrott, a former politician, said only seven specialist physics teachers qualified through Wales’ initial teacher education (ITE) system from an intake of ten in 2023/24.

She said: “The intake allocation target was 67, meaning the intake fell 86% short…. The intake allocation target has since been increased to 72. It is unlikely to be reached.”

Warning of systemic challenges, Ms Parrott expressed concerns about investment in Welsh ITE compared with centres in other parts of the UK.

Contrasting the two, she told the committee: “You could go to study in an ITE centre that has a full-time professional and professorial level of ITE tuition or you could go to somewhere else where they’re struggling to recruit part-time tutors to help you.”

Ms Parrott, a former Liberal Democrat member of the then-Assembly, suggested setting up a centre of excellence for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Stem).

She explained: “It is important to have ITE centres spread out across the country but – rather than spreading that expertise – maybe create something that is robust, academically respected, driving improvements across ITE.”

Ms Parrott said: “I think there’s also an equity issue here with the bursaries and what that means because you cannot realistically live on the bursary that you would get in Wales.

“So, if you come from a less wealthy background, it is a major financial choice to take on another year of study and take on another year of student debt and another year of living a hand-to-mouth existence.”

She warned teacher shortages are far worse through the medium of Welsh – describing Welsh-speaking, physics-trained teachers as like unicorns.

Ms Parrott told Senedd Members: “Obviously, a lot of Welsh students do their undergraduate study in England. We need to be attracting them back because they’ve got, potentially, a Welsh-language skill that they are therefore not using.”

Annette Farrell warned Wales is “way off the mark” for chemistry too, with seven passing their postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) in 2023/24 against a target of 67.

The Royal Society of Chemistry expert warned financial barriers are a big issue, with cross-border differences on incentives making training an unviable option for some.

“If you compare the English bursary system to Wales,” said Ms Farrell. “Once you’ve taken account of… fees and everything, Welsh students next year will only take home £2,465. If you compare that with England… that’s £19,465.”

She lamented the loss of Bangor’s chemistry provision, with only centres in Cardiff and Swansea, creating a “massive cold spot in the north”.

Ms Farrell emphasised the need to look at the financial sustainability of higher education more generally and address workload issues for teachers.

She raised concerns about possible unintended consequences from plans to scrap separate science GCSEs in favour of separate teaching but a double-award qualification.

Shabana Brightley, from the Royal Society of Biology, echoed her colleagues’ comments as the trio gave evidence on June 18 to a wider inquiry on teacher recruitment and retention.

“Based on the bursaries in England and all the incentives they get…they would rather go across the border to go and get trained,” she said.

Ms Brightly, a former primary and secondary school teacher, told the committee: “Early career support is very important, especially having subject-specific mentors in schools.”

She warned: “Let’s say a biology teacher is then having to teach physics and chemistry, which they’ve maybe not done since GCSE – that is a huge burden.”

Westward House to shut after just one year—former Castle School site under same ownership set to close again

A SCHOOL offering specialist support to children with additional learning needs is to close at the end of this term—less than a year after it opened in the same building where a mainstream private school under the same ownership and management shut its doors last summer.

Westward House School in Haverfordwest will close in July, marking the second collapse of an independent education venture at Glenover House, Scarrowscant Lane, in under 12 months.

Both schools were founded and run by education provider Harriet Harrison, who opened Castle School in 2009 to offer mainstream independent education with a strong academic focus. That school closed in July 2024, citing the loss of key staff, mounting regulatory pressure, and rising operational costs.

In response, Mrs Harrison set up Westward House School—a new, smaller school designed to provide alternative education provision for children with additional needs who were not thriving in mainstream settings. Originally based in St Clears, it relocated to the former Castle School premises in Haverfordwest last year.

But speaking this week, Mrs Harrison confirmed that Westward House will now also close—this time due to a worsening financial situation made unmanageable by VAT changes introduced earlier this year.

Crushed by costs and policy change

“It’s devastating,” Mrs Harrison said. “Castle School was a traditional independent school, but we knew there were still families in Pembrokeshire whose children weren’t coping in mainstream. That’s why we opened Westward House—to meet that need. It was a new name, but the same mission to do right by the pupils.”

She said the school’s model, based on small class sizes, specialist support, and consistent pastoral care, had proven highly effective—but was no longer financially viable.

“Since January, all private schools have been required to add 20 per cent VAT to their fees,” she said. “This hit families hard. Our fees hadn’t risen since we opened in 2021, but the cost of wages, insurance, and energy have risen sharply. That extra 20 per cent was the final straw for many.”

The impact has been especially severe in west Wales, where local authorities such as Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire have not funded placements at Westward House, unlike in Cardiff where Harrison’s sister school, Eastward House, works closely with local government.

A loss for vulnerable learners

Westward House prided itself on helping children who had struggled in other schools. Its strapline, “Qualifications are important, but self-esteem is life-changing,” encapsulated its therapeutic approach to learning.

“Although most of our learners have now completed their GCSEs and are moving on to college or sixth form,” Mrs Harrison said, “some younger pupils still need support. That’s why I’m pleased to say we’ve been working closely with the Cherry Grove Learning Centre, which is due to open soon in Haverfordwest.”

The new centre will offer small-group teaching, pastoral support, external exam entry, and an enriched curriculum—providing, she hopes, “a lifeline” for families affected by the closure.

National pattern of closures

Westward House is not alone. Across the UK, small independent schools are closing at an alarming rate. The Labour policy of adding VAT to private school fees—intended to fund thousands of new state-sector teachers—has hit smaller, non-elite schools the hardest. Unlike Eton or Harrow, most small independent schools have no historic endowments or corporate backers.

According to a recent Times report, Whitehall officials are already braced for a wave of closures as schools struggle with inflation, declining enrolment, and new tax burdens.

Glenover House—built around 1907 and used as a school for decades—is now listed for sale at £495,000.

Whether it will reopen again as an education site remains to be seen. But for the second time in a year, the pupils, parents, and staff of a Harrison-run school are saying goodbye.

Photo caption:

Déjà vu: Glenover House, former site of Castle School and Westward House, is now for sale once again (Pic: Rightmove)

Attainment in Numeracy, Welsh Reading and English Reading has improved in 2023/24, new statistics show.

English Reading saw attainment levels improve across all year groups compared to 2022/23. Learners in Year 3 showed sustained improvement with levels in English Reading being higher than in both 2020/2021 and 2021/22. Welsh Reading presented some improvement across Years 3 to 9, compared to 2022/23. Younger years have shown the greatest degree of improvement in Numeracy (Procedural), whilst Numeracy (Reasoning) has remained relatively stable. These statistics were published today using anonymised data from the national personalised assessments.

Personalised assessments are adaptive online assessments in four subjects taken by all learners in Years 2 to 9 in maintained schools. They aim to support learning by providing information on the reading and numeracy skills of individual learners. They highlight where learners are making progress, as well as which skills could be developed further.

Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle said: “It is encouraging to see progress in attainment in reading and numeracy. This improvement highlights the impact our investments are making in schools to ensure every learner has the opportunity to reach their full potential. These assessments help to support all our learners in their educational journey by providing a valuable insight into their strengths and emerging skills.

“I would also like to thank our teachers and the education workforce for their hard work and dedication in supporting our learners and for their continued commitment and professionalism in responding to our national priorities.”

Headteacher Trystan Phillips at Ysgol Gymunedol Penparc in Ceredigion said: “We have evolved in our use of the Personalised Assessments to move away from their use as a summative resource to being a resource that truly influences progress. The use of the different group reports have been invaluable in not only recognising strengths and areas to improve for year groups but also showing examples and exercises that can be used. They’re very much now a device to support pupil progress”.

Estyn’s Chief Inspector, Owen Evans said: “Personalised assessments are a useful tool for schools. They enable teachers to tailor support for individual pupils and track progress over time. We are pleased to see some improvement, but schools need to work together to support attainment, and ensure there is a relentless focus on improving reading and mathematics for all learners. Estyn will continue to work to support schools, and urge leaders to use resources, such as our recent thematic review ‘Unlocking potential: Insights into improving teaching and leadership in mathematics education’ to help improve teaching and learning.”