Our approach

The findings of this report are based on analysis of a wide range of evidence including:

• Evidence from core inspections conducted between September 2022 and August 2023. Inspections include activities such as observations of teaching, learning walks, scrutiny of learners’ work, discussions with leaders, staff and learners and scrutiny of documentation.
• The evidence gathered on visits to providers in follow-up categories and multi-agency meetings.
• Results from our questionnaires, including pre-inspection questionnaires which are administered to providers in advance of an inspection. These typically include questionnaires for staff, learners, governors and parents/carers.
• Evaluative evidence from link visits and meetings with providers, for example local authority link visits and visits to independent schools.
• Evidence from engagement visits.
• Evidence from visits to gather evidence for thematic reports, or in relation to key themes in education and training.
• Further desk-based research, including a rapid review of external research literature.
• Feedback from stakeholder meetings.
• At the end of the academic year, the evidence for activities carried out in each sector was analysed to identify common themes. This included analysis of the recommendations given to providers in sectors.
• The analysis of official statistics provided by the Welsh Government.