In Wales there exists a strong association between coming from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and doing less well in education. Whilst improvements are being made to this situation, progress is slow and is being impacted by changes in the composition of pupil populations in many secondary schools, which makes it more difficult for them to achieve high levels of success for their most disadvantaged pupils. This chapter, therefore, argues that if Wales is to achieve the ‘excellent and equitable’ education it aspires to create, these schools need to be re-fashioned as Community Partnership Schools which offer integrated support to pupils and their families and educational provision which is known to support more equitable outcomes.

In Wales, as in many other education systems, there is an increasing focus on the impact that poverty can have on the educational achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Educational research in this area has included a focus on boys (compared to girls), ethnic minority groups and those with additional learning needs. Little attention, however, has been paid to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who have been identified as being more able and talented (MAT). This article reports on a mixed-method research evaluation of such pupils in a sample of schools in south-east Wales in relation to the impact of their transition from primary to secondary education. The findings from the research highlight variations in the definition and identification of MAT learners between primary and secondary schools and a lack of attention to this specific group of learners in school transition plans and policies. This leads the researchers to argue for the need for schools to specifically identify this group of pupils through the transition process and to suggest specific areas where transition practice might be strengthened to cater for their needs. The study supports the limited research that has been undertaken in this area that specific groups of more vulnerable pupils, such as those who are MAT but come from disadvantaged backgrounds, may suffer from shortcomings in the primary to secondary transition process such that it hampers their progression and the realisation of their potential.

Child poverty is increasing in the UK. But how does that play out differently in the four UK jurisdictions, in relation to education? How do the different educational policy contexts and different educational structures affect the curriculum and pedagogy, and so what flexibility do they allow teachers, in engaging with children and young people who are growing up in poverty? This BERA Research Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy has provided a nuanced picture of variations across the UK in terms of educational responses to child poverty. It has brought together a network of practitioners and researchers to find new ways of thinking about the problem of child poverty and how educators can respond to it.

In 2016, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy brought together several academics from across the four jurisdictions of the UK already engaged in work on poverty, education and schooling. The aim of this BERA Commission was to build a network of research-active practitioners across the UK and, internationally, to engage in knowledge building about poverty and multiple factors of deprivation as these find expression in education and schooling. The Commission also aimed to facilitate counter discourses to be voiced and articulated in contrast to the dominant pathologising discourses of poor people and their education. The Commission therefore addressed the question: what can research tell us about the ways that different devolved policy contexts impact on the learning and well-being of young people living in poverty? This article describes the methodology used by the Commission to bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and children and young people to learn about the price of poverty in education and to reflect on the implications for policy. In so doing, the article addresses some challenges, opportunities and outcomes in terms of knowledge production, as well as implications for critical scholarship, with a focus on poverty and education.

The paper sets out the main characteristics of the school system in Wales since 1999 when responsibility for education was devolved to the newly-created National Assembly for Wales. It moves on to consider the advances made in student attainment during this period, some of which can be ascribed to progress in learning and teaching pedagogy, leadership development and good practice in the field of school effectiveness. It suggests, however, that these improvements have reached a plateau and that without major systemic reform, embracing changes in pedagogy, leadership and school effectiveness, the aspirations of the Assembly Government to develop a world-class education system in Wales will be difficult to achieve. The paper sets out the main features of the tri-level reform movement which is now beginning in Wales and which seeks to transform the school system over the next three to five years.