As you dip into the valley on the way into Merthyr Tydfil, a new earthy-toned building dominates the view. It's the new site of Saint Carlo Acutis Catholic School. With its rooftop science garden, solar panels and floor-to-ceiling windows, it's an impressive sight.
Excited staff and 940 pupils moved into the £50m complex at the start of September. But they did so just as the Welsh education system was being painted in a less positive light, with Wales once again ranking the worst of UK nations in global tests. "It casts doubt over a system we're proud of and children that we're proud of," says Sarah Hopkins, who's been a headteacher here for eight years.
She says it doesn't tell the full story but admits "it is disappointing". Welsh parents are currently thinking about the next steps for their children, with application deadlines for secondary school places at the end of this month. That comes at a time when the test results pose difficult questions about why Wales has so clearly underperformed relative to its closest neighbours.
And with Wales's devolved government now run by a party other than Labour for the first time ever, can the new Plaid Cymru administration do what it's promised and improve standards? Sarah Hopkins started teaching in 1998 - a year before the Welsh Assembly, now the Senedd, took over responsibility for education in Wales from Westminster. In that time she's had to navigate many system-wide and school changes.
The latest challenge has been managing the big move from the old mishmash of 1960s-built classrooms to the vast new building. But buildings alone do not drive excellence, and the gap between Wales and the other UK countries is getting wider. Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) measures teenagers' skills in reading, maths and science.
Sat by a sample of 15-year-olds – 3,406 in Wales in 2025, including some in Sarah Hopkins' school - it provides a snapshot of how education systems are performing. On the day results were published, Wales' education Minister, Anna Brychan, euphemistically said they were "not where we want them to be". Others called them catastrophic.
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