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This document has been laid before the Welsh Parliament jointly by the Auditor General for Wales and the Cabinet Secretary for Education in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Education (Wales) Act 2014.

Performance report

Foreword from the Chairperson

I am pleased to introduce the Education Workforce Council’s (EWC) Annual Report and Accounts for the first time during my tenure as Chairperson, following my election in May 2023. This publication sets out our key achievements and financial profile for the operational year 2023-24.

I am delighted to report that the EWC has once again been successful in discharging all of its statutory functions under the Education (Wales) Act 2014, doing so in a cost-effective manner. I would like to thank all of our staff, Council members, and panellists for their hard work and dedication in helping us to achieve this.

As the independent, professional regulator for the education workforce in Wales, we are clear that first and foremost, our role is to safeguard learners and to uphold public trust and confidence in our education practitioners in Wales. In keeping with this significant responsibility, the EWC now maintains the largest public register in Wales and the widest register of education practitioners in the world, comprising over 90,000 registrants in 11 registration categories.

In addition to our regulatory role, we have other complementary functions within legislation, in particular to promote careers in the education professions and to provide advice to government and others on relevant matters. You can read more about this work within the body of this report.

As an organisation that is independent from government, our core work is funded solely by the annual registration fees paid by our registrants. EWC fees continue to be amongst the lowest of any regulated profession in the world and have remained unchanged since our inception in 2015, meaning that in real terms they have actually fallen.

In response to Welsh Government’s decision not to provide a subsidy towards registrants’ fees for 2024-25, the EWC Council made a determination to use its financial reserves to keep fees unchanged for 2024-25. The EWC must remain financially stable, however we were concerned about the impact a fee increase at short notice would have on our registrants.

Throughout the last year, we have continued to maintain our usual high levels of engagement and interaction with our registrants, stakeholders, and the public, both formally and informally. Should you wish to speak to us about our work, do get in touch, our team will be happy to help.

On behalf of the EWC, I thank you for your interest in, and support for our work.

Eithne Hughes
Chairperson, EWC

Foreword from the Chief Executive

As another year comes to a close, the EWC’s Annual Report and Accounts provide an opportunity to reflect upon the progress we have made in achieving our strategic objectives during 2023-24.

The EWC’s new Council commenced its four-year term on 1 April 2023, electing Eithne Hughes as its new Chairperson in May 2023. It has been a pleasure working closely with Eithne, sharing our focus on ensuring that the EWC continues to be the trusted, independent, professional regulator for the education workforce in Wales.

Legislative changes that came into force in May 2023 saw us welcome practitioners from independent schools and colleges onto the Register, a development that we have long advocated. I was pleased that we were able to work collaboratively with the sector to support the new registrants’ understanding of the EWC, the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice, and the relevance of professional registration.

As of 31 March 2024, there were over 90,000 education practitioners registered in Wales, our highest number to date. We are expecting our Register to expand further over the coming year with the introduction of two further registration categories in May 2024.

Again this year, we have delivered robust registration and regulation through our fitness to practise work, ensuring only those suitable and qualified to practise are able to do so. We have also continued to discharge our statutory duty to accredit programmes of initial teacher education (ITE) for school teachers in Wales, monitoring programmes to ensure compliance with the accreditation criteria which underpins this provision.

In addition to the effective delivery of our regulatory functions, we have sought to positively influence education policy in Wales. We have participated in, and provided guidance to national steering groups covering a range of workforce matters, and responded to national consultations or calls for evidence. Throughout all of this work, we have made extensive use of the unique data held on the Register of Education Practitioners to inform and influence policy development and workforce planning.

As in other countries, recruitment to the education professions in Wales remains challenging. We have continued our statutory role to promote careers within the education workforce through the Educators Wales website, and face to face engagement with individuals at over 200 recruitment events.

As we reflect upon the achievements outlined within this report, I look forward to working with registrants and stakeholders in the year ahead to maintain professionalism and enhance standards within our education workforce.

Hayden Llewellyn
Chief Executive, EWC

Overview

This section highlights our key achievements and activities in 2023-24:

Objective 1: Be an effective independent, professional regulator, working in the public interest and building confidence in the education workforce

Successfully registered 90,812 education practitioners in Wales
Enabled 151,000 online checks of the public Register
Issued 1,198 Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) awards
Processed 64 applications for QTS recognition from outside Wales
Issued 1,395 induction awards
Received over 5,500 views of the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice on our website
Concluded 301 fitness to practise and suitability for registration cases
Eight ITE programmes assessed for reaccreditation, and one new programme
Issued 19 Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales awards

Objective 2: Support professionalism and learning within the education workforce

Supported 3,881 NQTs and mentors as part of statutory induction
Delivered 41 induction support sessions
Engaged 42,000+ registered users of the Professional Learning Passport (PLP), supporting registrants to take ownership of their professional standards and learning
Hosted three national events, facilitating valuable face to face engagement with registrants and the public
Delivered 500+ registrant and stakeholder support sessions and presentations
Launched the podcast ‘Sgwrsio with the EWC’, publishing five episodes

Objective 3: Seek to inform, shape, and influence educational policy in Wales for the benefit of the education workforce

Attracted 687,300 visits to the Educators Wales website
Advertised 6,982 job vacancies on Educators Wales
Attended 205 events as Educators Wales, promoting careers in education
Contributed to 45+ national steering groups, informing the development of education policy and initiatives in Wales
Responded to 21 consultations/calls for evidence
Published the national FE and WBL workforce survey findings
Launched a post-16 sector’s Professional Development Framework Hub
Supported DARPL to deliver their first annual conference
Provided Independent secretariat support to the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB)

Objective 4: Be a resilient, capable, and financially sustainable organisation that offers value for money to registrants

Achieved an unqualified audit opinion for 2022-23 Annual Report and Accounts
Undertook five internal audit reviews receiving substantial assurance and no recommendations for all
Complied with data protection, Welsh language, equality, and environmental legislation
Appointed a new Chair of Council, and 6 new Council members
Hosted 13 professional learning and training activities for staff, Council members, and other members
Delivered six staff wellbeing activities

About us

The Education Workforce Council (EWC) is the independent, professional regulator for the education workforce in Wales.

Established by the Education (Wales) Act 2014, we regulate education practitioners in 11 different registration categories spanning schools, further education, youth work, and work-based learning. Our Register of Education Practitioners is the biggest public register of any profession in Wales, and the most wide-ranging register of education professionals in the world, with over 90,000 practitioners registered.

Vision

To be a trusted, independent, professional regulator that works in the public interest to maintain professionalism and enhance standards within the education workforce in Wales.

Role and remit

The Education (Wales) Act 2014 formally sets out our role as an independent, professional regulator and strategic leader in the education sector in Wales. The Act also details the obligations that we have to our registrants, learners and young people, parents/guardians, and the public. Our aims and functions, as defined by the Act, are summarised below.

Our aims

Contribute to improving the standards of teaching and the quality of learning in Wales.
Maintain and improve standards of professional conduct amongst teachers and others who support teaching and learning in Wales.
Safeguard the interests of learners, parents/guardians, and the public, and maintain public trust and confidence in the education workforce.

Our functions

Establish and maintain a Register of Education Practitioners.
Maintain a Code of Professional Conduct and Practice.
Investigate and hear allegations that may call into question a registered practitioner's fitness to practise.
Accredit and monitor programmes of school teacher ITE.
Provide advice to Welsh Government and others.
Monitor induction and hear induction appeals.
Promote careers in the education workforce.
Undertake specific work at the invitation of Welsh Government.

Our values

Fairness

We act fairly and with integrity to maintain standards and promote professionalism.

Support

We support the education workforce to maintain high standards of conduct and practice.

Excellence

We pursue excellence and endeavour to provide a high-quality service for registrants, stakeholders, learners and young people, parents/guardians, and the public.

Collaboration

We work in partnership with the education workforce and stakeholders to develop and promote excellence in teaching and learning.

Independence

We are independent and regulate in a way that is impartial and based on evidence.

Our people

Our Council is made up of 14 members who set the organisation’s strategic direction and are responsible for its governance. In 2023-24, our Council has be operating with two unfilled positions.

Each member is appointed for a four-year period. Seven members are appointed directly through the Welsh Government public appointments system, and seven are appointed following nomination from a range of stakeholders.

We currently employ over 50 members of staff. We also maintain and support:

a pool of 60 fitness to practise panel members
an ITE Accreditation Board of 11 members
a pool of 48 assessors of the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales (31 active)

Financial sustainability

As an independent, professional regulator funded by registration fees, it is essential that we operate within our means and use our resources efficiently. We strive to keep our registration fees as low as possible, whilst providing the highest level of service in fulfilling our statutory duties. Like other regulators, we maintain adequate financial reserves in order to provide stability and ensure that our services are protected from risks that may arise from unexpected events.

We regularly lead activities on behalf of Welsh Government where it is considered that we are the most appropriate body to do such work in Wales. In such instances, Welsh Government will cover our costs through project grant funding. The EWC is also able to undertake commercial activities and does so where it considers this to be in the interests of registrants and the education sector in Wales.

Our Annual Report and Accounts are audited by Audit Wales each year and, thereafter, laid before the Senedd.

The Welsh language

We are committed to the Welsh language and proud to be a bilingual organisation. We work with the Welsh Language Commissioner to ensure full compliance with the Welsh Language Standards.

Our Welsh Language Standards Monitoring Report 2023-24 sets out our compliance with the Welsh Language Standards and outlines the work that we have undertaken over the last year to promote the use of the language, both amongst our own employees, and in engaging with registrants and other external stakeholders.

Equality and diversity

We embrace and champion the principles of equality and diversity, both inside our organisation and, within our remit, across the wider education workforce in Wales.

Our Annual Equality Report 2023-24 sets out the progress we have made in achieving our four equality objectives over the past year. During 2023-24, we worked with stakeholders to develop our Strategic Equality Plan 2024-28 which establishes ambitious new equality objectives, and within its accompanying action plan, details how we aim to achieve them, and how our success will be measured.

Our Council and committee structures

The Council

Sets our vision and strategic direction.
Scrutinises performance.
Holds the Chief Executive to account.

Executive Committee

Oversees:

development of strategic and operational plans
progress against operational and strategic objectives through review of quarterly reports and Annual Reports and Accounts
statutory schemes

Registration and Regulation Committee

Oversees:

registration and maintenance of the Register
the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice and fitness to practise
accreditation of school teacher ITE programmes
initiatives to assure quality and improve standards in teaching and learning

Audit and Scrutiny Committee

Oversees:

finance and administration procedures
risk management processes
cyber security and data protection
activity performed by internal and external audit
reports by the Auditor General for Wales

The senior management team (SMT) is responsible for our operations and management. The Chief Executive is responsible for our leadership, in accordance with the strategic direction set by the Council, and oversees the SMT.

Chief Executive – Hayden Llewellyn
Director of Qualifications, Registration and Fitness to Practise - Elizabeth Brimble (until retirement on 31 August 2023)
Director of Regulation – David Browne (from 1 September 2023)
Director of Professional Development, Accreditation and Policy - Bethan Holliday-Stacey
Director of Finance and Corporate Services - Lisa Winstone

Strategic objectives 2023-24

1. Be an effective independent regulator, working in the public interest and building confidence in the education workforce

1.1 Maintain a Register of Education Practitioners that is accurate and accessible.

1.2 Operate robust, fair, and transparent regulatory procedures which ensure that only those deemed suitable to practise may do so.

1.3 Shape the practice of registrants by developing and promoting high standards of conduct and professionalism.

1.4 Accredit and quality assure education programmes and provision in Wales.

1.5 Influence Welsh Government and other stakeholders to ensure that legislation underpinning our regulatory functions is sufficiently robust.

2. Support professionalism and learning within the education workforce

2.1 Provide a suite of guidance, resources, and professional services for registrants.

2.2 Lead and support initiatives to promote and encourage effective professional learning for registrants.

2.3 Lead and support initiatives to promote research engagement and disseminate best practice to registrants.

2.4 Ensure visibility and understanding of the EWC’s work amongst registrants, parents/guardians, the public, and our stakeholders through effective, accessible, and responsive communication and engagement.

3. Seek to inform, shape, and influence educational policy in Wales for the benefit of the education workforce

3.1 Provide independent advice, research, and analysis to inform and influence the development and delivery of education policy in Wales, which serves to enhance standards.

3.2 Collaborate with registrants, parents/guardians, the public, and our stakeholders to inform and influence education policy in Wales, helping to enhance standards.

3.3 Lead initiatives to promote careers within the education workforce and drive improvement in recruitment and retention.

3.4 Act as Secretariat to the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB).

4. Be a resilient, capable, and financially sustainable organisation that offers value for money to registrants.

4.1 Manage resources effectively and sustainably to meet current and future needs, making appropriate use of technology to drive efficiency and improve our services.

4.2 Have effective planning, performance management, and compliance processes, ensuring they incorporate best practice.

4.3 Be an excellent employer that promotes a supportive and inclusive culture where all staff, Council and committee/panel members feel valued and fully able to contribute.

4.4 Influence Welsh Government and other stakeholders to ensure that legislation underpinning our independence, governance, and finances is fit for purpose.

Looking to the future

Our Strategic Plan 2024-27 sets out our priorities for the period and reflects our statutory role and remit within the context of the broader education landscape in Wales.

Key activities for 2024-25 will include:

continuing to undertake our statutory responsibilities effectively, efficiently, and sustainably:
- delivering robust registration and regulation, meaning only those suitable and qualified to practise are able to do so
- commencing the registration and regulation of further education principals and senior leaders, and adult learning practitioners in Wales
- working with Welsh Government to ensure an appropriate registration fee model for the future
supporting registrants to uphold the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice and deliver the highest professional standards by providing and promoting useful information, resources, and services designed to offer guidance and direction
shaping and influencing education policy in Wales for the benefit of our registrants
promoting careers in education in Wales through the Educators Wales website and the advice and support service
delivering Welsh Government funded work in line with agreed targets and timescales
continuing to lobby Welsh Government to ensure that legislation underpinning the EWC is proportionate and maintains our independence
enhancing our digital services, including an upgraded registration database
continuing to raise awareness of our role through strengthening our communications with registrants, stakeholders, and the public

Key risks and challenges

We have robust procedures in place to manage organisational risk. Our Risk Register ensures that areas identified are closely scrutinised and regularly reviewed by management. We provide further information about risk management in our Annual Governance Statement.

The majority of the risks in the Risk Register are ongoing risks, however, the following are considered to be particularly pertinent for the coming year:

The financial constraints within which we operate (as an organisation whose core work is funded by registration fees) mean that it is essential for us to maintain good financial governance. Our registration fees have not changed since we were established in 2015, and we strive to maintain fees at as low a level as possible. We seek to achieve a balance between holding sufficient reserves to ensure our sustainability, whilst providing the highest level of service in fulfilling our statutory duties. We regularly review fee levels and reserves of other regulators.
In March 2024, Welsh Government announced that it would not be providing registrants with a contribution towards their annual registration fees (known as a subsidy) during 2024-25. We continue to work with Welsh Government to consider potential future funding models and their implications.
We are in the process of upgrading our registration database to provide a comprehensive self-service system for registrants, employers, and the public. We will closely monitor the progress of this project and ensure there is no interruption to service.
Cyber security issues constitute a global threat and organisations are susceptible to risk on an ongoing basis, irrespective of size or business type. We have a range of measures and safeguards in place to maintain the security of our IT network and the data held within it. These mechanisms will be monitored and further enhanced as necessary.

Performance analysis

Our Operational Plan for 2023-24 sets out detailed actions and measures for each of our strategic objectives. Responsibility for the achievement of strategic objectives was distributed amongst senior officers and further delegated to teams as appropriate. Progress was scrutinised by both the Council, and the SMT through monthly, quarterly, and annual monitoring processes. Details of our achievements against each of the objectives are set out below.

Objective 1: Be an effective independent regulator, working in the public interest and building confidence in the education workforce

Registration

The Register of Education Practitioners (the Register) is integral to our work in ensuring that high standards of professionalism are maintained within the workforce. It protects the public by ensuring that only those who meet and maintain our standards can work in regulated roles in Wales.

As at 31 March 2024, over 90,000 education practitioners, covering 11 groups within schools, further education (FE), work-based learning (WBL), and youth work were registered. We processed 17,605 new registration applications this year, with the largest number of applications coming from school learning support workers (12,159).

In May 2023, new legislation came into force requiring teachers and learning support workers in independent schools and colleges to register with the EWC. It also introduced the requirement for paid qualified youth workers and youth support workers (with provisional registration for those working towards qualified status) in any setting in Wales to register. We have worked extensively with employers throughout the year to ensure they understand their legal obligations in appointing and employing staff who are EWC registered, and to advise them on how their access to the Register can help.

The public-facing Register, available via our website, enables employers, members of the public, and others to check the registration status of education practitioners. This plays a pivotal role in safeguarding learners. Over 151,000 online checks were made between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 (up from 144,000 checks in the previous year).

We held 32 virtual sessions with universities and FE colleges to ensure that students looking to join the education workforce once qualified understand the legal requirements upon them to register.

We also undertook several exercises this year to improve the completeness of records on the Register.

Case study: registration of practitioners working within the independent sector

Following many years of lobbying by the EWC for practitioners in the independent sector to be registered and regulated, new legislation was enacted in May 2023.

During the year, we worked closely with sector leads including the Welsh Independent Schools Council (WISC) to welcome practitioners from over 80 independent settings in Wales onto our Register. We now have 2,185 individual registrants from independent schools and post-16 special institutions. The new legislation means that the public can be assured that practitioners working in this sector are suitably qualified, adhere to our Code of Professional Conduct and Practice, and are regulated.

Suitability for registration

We require all applicants to declare their criminal, disciplinary, or regulatory history as part of their application for registration. To ensure their suitability to practise. During 2023-24, we concluded a total of 218 assessments where applicants declared specific matters. This resulted in one individual being deemed unsuitable to practice in the registered professions in Wales. In all cases, we have adhered to the timescales and standards set out in our published procedures.

Fitness to practise

We have a statutory responsibility to investigate and, if necessary, hear cases of alleged unacceptable professional conduct, serious professional incompetence, and/or a conviction for a relevant offence. We carry out this work in the public interest to safeguard learners and young people, parents/guardians, and the public, and to maintain public trust and confidence in the education workforce. It ensures that only those who have the necessary skills, knowledge, and behaviours are able to register and work in the education professions in Wales.

This year, we concluded 74 fitness to practise cases. This included 52 fitness to practise hearings, of which 49 took place online, and three in person. There are a range of sanctions that can be imposed as a result of this work. In the most serious of cases 20 individuals were removed from the public Register, meaning they are unable to practice in the registered professions in Wales.

Our Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2023-24 provides detailed information on trends in our casework and the profile of those featured.

Interim suspension orders

Where there is a safeguarding risk to learners, young people, or the public, we have statutory powers to impose interim suspension orders (ISOs). This allows us to temporarily remove individuals from the Register, pending an investigation. In 2023-24, we imposed nine interim suspension orders and undertook nine reviews of existing ISOs.

Induction appeals

We have responsibility for hearing appeals from newly qualified school teachers who fail statutory induction, but are dissatisfied by such a decision. In July 2023, we received an appeal which was heard and upheld by an independent panel in December 2023, in line with our procedures.

Code of Professional Conduct and Practice

The Code of Professional Conduct and Practice (the Code) sets out the standards expected of our registrants and is intended to guide any judgements and decisions they make. It also informs learners and young people, parents/guardians, employers, and the public of the standards they can expect from a registered practitioner.

Failure to comply with the Code may call a person’s registration into question (see Fitness to Practice section). It is therefore important that we support our registrants and stakeholders in understanding the requirements of the Code. In 2023-24, we:

delivered 38 training sessions on the Code
added to our suite of good practice guides which complement the Code and provide additional advice to registrants in relation to key areas of practice
developed and published a short webinar about EWC’s regulatory and registration role, and advice about the safe use of social media

QTS and statutory induction

In order to practice as a school teacher in a maintained school, registrants must hold the professional qualification of QTS and successfully complete a period of statutory induction. This year, we issued certificates to 1,198 people who gained QTS in Wales. We also assessed 64 applications for QTS recognition from applicants who gained qualifications outside of Wales. We issued 1,395 certificates to school teachers who successfully completed their induction.

ITE accreditation

All ITE programmes offered in Wales must be accredited by the EWC and monitored throughout the period of accreditation. We delegate this function to our ITE Accreditation Board (the board). In deciding whether to grant accreditation, the board considers whether the programme meets the Criteria for the accreditation of ITE programmes in Wales (the criteria). In 2023-24, there were 15 programmes operational across seven partnerships.

During the year, the board conducted two monitoring visits (four programmes), four reaccreditation visits (eight programmes), and one accreditation visit (one programme). As a result of this work, two programmes were not reaccredited/accredited.

The EWC has worked closely with ITE partnerships and Welsh Government throughout the year to provide ongoing advice and support. In October 2023, we held our annual event for ITE partnerships focussed on sharing new ideas and practices. For the first time, this was held jointly with Estyn.

In May 2023, Welsh Government published a refresh of the criteria following a full consultation. The refreshed criteria aimed to reflect learning from the first round of accreditation, and developments in Welsh Government policy direction.

Allocation of ITE intake numbers

In November 2023, in collaboration with Welsh Government, we allocated ITE intake numbers to ITE partnerships for programmes commencing in September 2024. In recognising specific teacher shortages in Wales, we also outlined specific Welsh Government requirements for the recruitment of Welsh medium teachers and teachers from black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities. We will continue to monitor recruitment to programmes in 2024-25 and report progress to Welsh Government on a monthly basis.

Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales

We have held the contract for delivering the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales (the Quality Mark), in partnership with Education Training Standards (ETS) Wales, since January 2020.

In 2023-24, we assessed and awarded the Quality Mark to 19 organisations (10 bronze, six silver, three gold). In total, 36 organisations now hold the Quality Mark.

We engaged extensively with the sector and provided advice and guidance to organisations and individuals thinking about applying for the Quality Mark. We have developed and provided training on the Quality Mark to youth workers and youth support workers.

We also raised awareness of the Quality Mark more widely, including with young people. This year we developed a ‘youth friendly’ introduction to the Quality Mark available as a video on our website.

Case study: the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales

We were delighted to have been recommissioned by Welsh Government to work in partnership with ETS Wales to deliver and develop the Quality Mark until March 2025.

The Quality Mark is a national award which supports and recognises improving standards in the provision and performance of organisations that deliver youth work services. In order to receive the accreditation, youth work organisations must self-assess against a set of quality standards, and pass an external assessment.

Since being first awarded the contract in 2020, the EWC has:

completed 60 assessments
trained 297 youth workers/youth support workers
trained a pool of 48 assessors (31 active)

Improving standards in teaching and learning

During 2023-24, we continued to undertake grant funded work, on behalf of Welsh Government, to help support and enhance the professionalism of the post-16 workforce in Wales. In July 2023, this work saw us launch a professional development framework. In co-construction with the sector, we created tools/content for the framework to help support staff and leaders working within FE and WBL to engage with the professional standards.

Legislative matters

In addition to the new legislation which came into force in May 2023 widening registration with the EWC (see the registration section), Welsh Government also consulted this year on proposals to further extend the range of practitioners required to register with us. This legislation, which will be enacted from May 2024, will see two new categories added to the Register and introduce minimum qualifications for further education teachers and adult learning practitioners.

Following the increase in EWC registration categories in May 2023, we raised concerns with Welsh Government regarding some of the requirements within existing legislation about the composition of fitness to practise panels. As a result, following a Welsh Government consultation in September 2023, legislation came into force on 1 March 2024 providing more flexibility for the EWC in this regard.

We have continued to engage with Welsh Government and other stakeholders regarding proposals for the professional registration of the childcare and playwork workforce. In March 2024, we responded to Welsh Government’s consultation on the matter. We highlighted the importance of establishing a clear understanding of the work that is undertaken by the practitioners in order to determine whether they may need to be registered with the EWC, Social Care Wales (SCW), or both organisations.

Objective 2: Support professionalism and learning within the education workforce

Supporting registrants’ professional practice

Induction

We administer funding, recording, and tracking arrangements for school teachers’ statutory induction on behalf of Welsh Government. This involves working closely with local authorities, the regional consortia, mentors, newly qualified teachers (NQTs), and Welsh Government. In 2023-24, this work included:

supporting 2,846 new teachers, 1,035 induction mentors, 479 external verifiers, and over 850 schools as part of the induction programme
distributing funding for induction of over £4.21million to schools, equating to 3,828 payments
releasing over £2.63 million to the regional consortia to support external verifiers
providing tailored administrative support to each of the regional consortia
providing online services, helpdesk facilities, and demonstrations to all registered practitioners accessing their induction profile, external verifiers, the regional consortia, local authorities, and schools

National e-portfolio - Professional Learning Passport (PLP)

We continued to develop and maintain a national e-portfolio for our registrants to support them to plan, record, and reflect upon their professional experiences and learning, and interact with their professional standards. Since its launch in September 2016, over 42,000 practitioners have created their PLP, with almost 5,800 accounts since 1 April 2023.

We have provided online training and support throughout the year to help registrants to use the PLP, worked with partners to develop bespoke workbooks within the PLP, and developed a short animation (published on our website) promoting the benefits of the PLP.

Events to support registrants’ professional practice

We host a range of events for registrants focused upon supporting them in key areas of practice and to help them to comply with the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice. Over the past year, we have continued to use our events to showcase innovative ideas and world-class speakers across a variety of topics.

In January 2024, we were delighted to welcome Professor Shaaron Ainsworth as the host of our annual lecture, Professionally Speaking. The event was attended by more than 240 people who heard Shaaron speak on the topic of ‘Unlocking the mysteries of learning’, providing a fascinating insight into the realms of cognitive science and education.

Case study: EWC Masterclass 2023 – understanding and addressing sexual harassment in educational settings

In May 2023, we hosted a Masterclass (attended by over 175 people) on understanding and addressing peer-on-peer sexual harassment, and building preventative and proactive whole-organisation approaches to addressing the issue. The keynote for the event was EJ Renold, Professor of Childhood Studies at Cardiff University. They were joined by speakers from NEU Cymru, NSPCC, Brook, Barnardo’s Cymru, Welsh Women’s Aid, and Estyn.

Following the event, we recorded a special episode of our podcast, ‘Sgwrsio with the EWC’, focussing on the issue of peer-on-peer harassment. We also published a good practice guide providing registrants with information on how to prevent, identify, and respond to incidents of peer-on-peer sexual harassment and other harmful sexual behaviour (endorsed by Brook, NSPCC, and Barnardo’s Cymru).

Supporting practitioner research

In line with our research strategy, we have continued to promote and support research engagement across our registrant groups. Another strand of work to help our registrants comply with specific aspects of our Code of Professional Conduct and Practice.

We offer a range of online resources for registrants to encourage close to practice research, including providing free access to the EBSCO package of academic journals and e-books. We use Meddwl Mawr, our book and journal club, to raise awareness of EBSCO, and encourage registrants to engage with this free resource. During 2023-24, we recommended 18 books covering topics such as mindfulness, supporting learners with dyslexia, lesson planning, and equitable education.

Communication and engagement

We have continued to strengthen our communication and engagement activity over the last year.

In April 2024, we launched a campaign aimed at further raising our profile amongst registrants, parents/guardians, the public, and our stakeholders. As part of the campaign, we undertook a full review of our corporate literature, attended five national events, launched our own podcast series ‘Sgwrsio with the EWC’, and hosted three EWC events. This work will be reviewed and will continue into the next financial year.

Our online training, support sessions, and presentations have been further complemented by the addition of on-demand training videos, and two corporate animations providing overviews of the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice and the Professional Learning Passport. This has helped us to attract 852,841 page views of our website.

The website itself was redesigned and relaunched in May 2024, incorporating improvements in accessibility, user journey, branding, navigation, and layout. Continuous feedback has been actively sought from users since we went live and implemented where appropriate.

We featured extensively in the media this year, with particular interest in our fitness to practise work. However there has also been press interest in other topics such as the Quality Mark, the results of our 2023 Further Education and Work-based Learning Education Workforce Survey, and our collaboration with other organisations to improve the diversity of the education workforce.

16,182 telephone calls received
260+ presentations and support sessions delivered
852,841 page views on our website
9,657 followers on social media
seven guest blogs published from prominent figures in education
eight newsletters published

Case study: Sgwrsio with the EWC podcast

In June 2023, we launched our new podcast ‘Sgwrsio with the EWC’ and have released four episodes in the series so far. The podcast aims to cover a range of issues interesting to our registrants, sharing experiences, ideas, perspectives, and providing thought-provoking insights to help them in their day-to-day practice. We have already covered a range of topics, including:

the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales
peer-on-peer sexual harassment
diversifying Wales’ education workforce
Welsh in the workplace

A number of prominent guests contributed to our podcast episodes to share their expertise and lived experiences including the Welsh Language Commissioner, representatives from DARPL, Brook, Barnardo’s Cymru, NSPCC, and The Prince’s Trust.

In 2024-25, we are looking forward to covering topics such as wellbeing and education technology.

Objective 3: Seek to inform, shape, and influence educational policy in Wales for the benefit of the education workforce

Supporting educational policy

We are committed to contributing to, and influencing, the development of policy in the interests of our registrants.

The Chair, Chief Executive, and senior officers meet regularly with key figures in education in Wales including the Minister for Education and the Welsh language, senior Welsh Government officials, and education leads from each of the political parties represented in the Senedd. We also work closely with a range of organisations such as trade unions, regional consortia, employers, Estyn, Qualifications Wales, the National Academy for Educational Leadership, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, Colleges Wales, the National Training Federation for Wales, the Principal Youth Officers Group, DARPL, and the Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services.

We participated in, and contributed to, over 45 high-profile national groups with remits extending across schools, FE, work-based learning, and youth work. These have covered key workforce matters such as workload, recruitment and retention, professional learning, wellbeing, and research engagement.

We regularly respond to consultations to advocate on behalf of the education workforce and use our knowledge and expertise to positively influence the education system in Wales. In 2023-24, we responded to nine formal consultations and 12 requests for evidence or advice. This included Welsh Government’s consultations on the registration of independent sector practitioners with the EWC, written evidence to the Equalities and Social Justice Committee’s consultation on the implementation of the anti-racist Wales action plan, oral evidence to Welsh Government on engagement to strengthen the legislative framework for Youth Work in Wales, and the National Centre for Learning Welsh’s call for evidence to review the support available to the education workforce to develop their Welsh language skills.

Evidence-based policy advice

Data and analysis

Our Register offers a wealth of information to inform and influence policy and workforce planning in Wales. It is frequently quoted and referenced in the Senedd, by trade unions, and by the media.

In September 2023, we published our Annual Education Workforce Statistics for Wales. It details the composition of the registered workforce across schools, further education, work-based learning, and youth work settings in Wales. Additional data analyses released over the last year have covered matters such as the Welsh language, ITE results, and NQTs.

Our Register also offers valuable insights into the current recruitment and retention challenges facing education settings in Wales. We are able to use this to provide advice and guidance to Welsh Government and other stakeholders. We have also provided a number of significant data packages to support Welsh Government and others, such as the IWPRB and regional consortia.

In June 2024, we published a report on the Further Education and Work-Based Learning Education Workforce Survey 2023 (carried out on behalf of the national FE lecturer workload steering group, made up of Welsh Government, Colegau Cymru, and the joint trade unions). This detailed survey report covers a range of areas including practitioners perceptions of their role and career, working patterns and workload, wellbeing, and professional learning.

Championing equality and diversity, and health and wellbeing

We know that a diverse education profession is essential to building an inclusive environment for practitioners and learners. Throughout the year, we have worked with partners to promote awareness of equality and diversity matters within the education workforce. This has included:

working in partnership with DARPL (Diversity and Anti-Racist Professional Learning) and other stakeholders to develop and promote their first national conference
producing a podcast episode on diversifying Wales’ education workforce, which featured expert speakers reflecting upon their lived experiences
responding to the Equalities and Social Justice Committee’s consultation in support of their proposals for an anti-racist Wales
confirming our stance on racism by signing Race Council Cymru’s Zero Racism Wales pledge

Case study: Partnership working with DARPL

We partnered with DARPL to help organise and promote their first national diversity and anti-racist leadership conference, held in June 2023.

Attracting over 250 attendees, the day brought together leaders from across primary and secondary, early years, and youth work. The event focussed on supporting practitioners in moving from non-racist to anti-racist practice and the practical changes that educators in Wales can make.

Our Chief Executive delivered closing remarks at the event, highlighting the EWC’s commitment to promoting anti-racist practice and to supporting the implementation of Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan.

Promoting careers in education

We have a statutory function to promote careers within the education professions in Wales and have continued to build the Educators Wales brand and platform to support recruitment and progression.

The Educators Wales website has been populated with new and engaging content. Its jobs portal has been enhanced to provide improved support for employers advertising job vacancies, making it easier for educators to find their next role. This year, the website has seen 687,300 visitors and, for the first time, the Educators Wales job portal has consistently advertised more job vacancies than any comparable provider in Wales.

We also continued to work with partners to implement specific action plans for priority recruitment areas, including supporting ITE partnerships with their plans to recruit to priority subjects, and attract black, Asian and minority ethnic and Welsh language educators.

Through our promotion and advocacy service, we have offered support to individuals, employers, and education establishments by attending 205 events and engaging with thousands of individuals interested in a career in education.

687,300 visitors to the Educators Wales website
6,982 vacancies posted on the jobs portal
682 queries or requests for advice
205 recruitment events attended
87 demonstrations of the platform to organisations and employers

Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB)

As the independent secretariat to the IWPRB, we played a key role in facilitating the work of the review board. Over the last year, this included supporting the IWPRB to produce a report on supply teachers, submitted to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language in April and resubmitted in October 2023 following a consultation exercise, and a strategic review into the structure of teachers' and leaders' pay and conditions in Wales which was submitted in December 2023.

Objective 4: Be a resilient, capable and financially sustainable organisation that offers value for money to registrants

Finance

Our Annual Report and Accounts were laid at the Senedd in August 2023. We received an unqualified audit opinion, and for all five internal audit reviews completed in 2023-24, we received the highest audit opinion of substantial assurance with no recommendations made.

For the financial year ending 31 March 2024, we reported a surplus of £135,000 (£247,000 surplus in 2022-23) and total net assets of £5,603,000 (£5,535,000 at 31 March 23).

We have also maintained sufficient financial reserves in order to ensure that the services we provide are protected from any risks that may arise from unexpected events.

Cost effective services

As our core functions of registration and regulation are funded by registration fees, it is essential that we operate within our means and use our resources efficiently. We strive to maintain registration fees at as low a level as possible, whilst providing the highest level of service in fulfilling our statutory duties.

We continued to make improvements to our IT infrastructure and facilities to ensure we offer our registrants value for money for their annual fees. For example, 99% of registration applications are now made online, whilst the majority of our fitness to practise hearings now also take place online.

Our people

We are committed to equal opportunities and have well established approaches to the recruitment, development, and promotion of staff. Recruitment processes are continually monitored and tested to ensure compliance with Welsh Language Standards and equality responsibilities. In 2023-24, we made 12 appointments, four of which were internal.

Staff development

We recognise that our staff are our key asset. As such, we provide training and development opportunities to enable them to flourish. We have a comprehensive staff training programme, which is aligned with organisational objectives. During 2023-24, we held sessions on equality, diversity, and inclusion awareness, and neurodiversity. Individual staff are also able to request training as part of the performance and development review process.

Staff wellbeing

Our aim is to create a physical environment and workplace culture that promotes positive physical and mental health, and wellbeing. We provide staff with free access to a confidential employee assistance support helpline and a suite of webinars from Care First covering a range of health and wellbeing topics. There are also four mental health first aiders within the organisation trained to support their colleagues.

In addition, we have an ongoing staff wellbeing programme through which colleagues are encouraged to participate in a range of activities designed to promote their physical and mental health.

Supporting members

Appointments to the Council are made through the Welsh Government public appointments process every four years. Our new Council was appointed on 1 April 2023 with six new appointments and six members continuing for a further term of four years. All members were supported through a programme of induction and performance review and development. Further recruitment activity is ongoing for the remaining two vacancies. Following a recruitment exercise, a new lay member of our Audit and Scrutiny Committee was also appointed, commencing on 1 April 2023. Council members have an extensive range of experience, with knowledge spanning all of the Council’s 11 registrant groups as well as a lay presence.

We also maintain and support a pool of independent fitness to practise panel members, ITE Accreditation Board members, and Quality Mark assessors. Throughout the year, we have undertaken a number of recruitment exercises to ensure we have sufficient numbers of members with the appropriate knowledge and expertise. We have also provided training to all members throughout the year to support them in fulfilling their roles.

IT security

We have rigorous mechanisms in place to ensure the security of our IT network and the data held within it. We achieved Cyber Essentials certification in May 2023, and undertook payment card industry data security standards compliance checks on a quarterly basis. We provided online cyber security training to all staff and carried out regular phishing testing to maintain staff awareness of cyber issues.

Data protection

We have robust policies and procedures in place to monitor and ensure compliance with data protection requirements.

Training on data protection is provided for all staff, Council members, and panellists. This provision is tailored to suit audience requirements and reviewed annually.

Our data team undertook a full review during the year which updated, consolidated, and shortened our data protection policies to provide a clear and concise suite of documents for all staff to use. These, and any other changes or updates, were shared with staff through our data protection working group (attended by all team managers) and via the staff intranet.

In 2023-24, we responded to six subject access requests and 22 freedom of information requests.

Welsh language

We are committed to the Welsh language and proud to operate as a bilingual organisation, offering services to registrants in both Welsh and English.

We are required to comply with 148 Welsh Language Standards covering service delivery, operational matters, policy making, and record keeping. All staff members have a responsibility to ensure that we meet these standards.

We published our annual Welsh Language Standards Monitoring Report in July 2023, setting out our commitment to, and compliance with, the standards.

Equality

We are committed to promoting inclusivity and equality within the sector and to ensuring that we, as employers, promote fairness and diversity, and work effectively towards the creation of a fairer Wales. Our Strategic Equality Plan sets out how we will work towards the goal of achieving equality of opportunity, both within our organisation, and across the wider education workforce in Wales.

We will publish our Annual Equality Report in August 2024, reviewing our progress against the objectives in the Strategic Equality Plan 2020-24.

Case Study: Our commitment to equality and diversity, and the Welsh language

Whilst we have reported on our legislative compliance in these areas, we are committed to going above and beyond compliance, both as an employer, and as part of our wider interactions within education workforce. We are pleased to report that activities over the last year have included:

using the unique data from our Register to highlight issues relating to equality and diversity, and the Welsh language
working in partnership with DARPL to organise and promote a national diversity and anti-racist leadership conference
promoting careers in education with individuals from black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities, and in Welsh medium education
introducing a regular equalities newsletter for staff and publishing our quarterly ‘Cymraeg ar Waith’ newsletter
improved the accessibility of the EWC website
launching a bilingual staff intranet, enabling colleagues to receive and share all internal communications through their preferred language
signing the Race Council Cymru Zero Racism Wales anti-racism pledge in September 2023
involving staff, registrants, and stakeholders who represent one or more of the protected groups, in shaping our new Strategic Equality Plan 2024-28

Environmental and community matters

We are committed to minimising our impact on the environment in line with the duties outlined within the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. We have published a statement on the Section 6 Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty on our website, which we reviewed this year.

Consultation with employees and stakeholders

Employees

We recognise the importance of communication with all employees and of keeping them informed of internal and external developments.

As well as our formal annual staff review arrangements, we have a range of more informal means of working collaboratively, including a calendar of meetings and updates, staff library, and intranet. We also hold an annual staff planning day at which staff discuss and inform the development of our suite of organisational plans.

The employee forum provides staff with an opportunity to discuss and influence the EWC’s work in areas such as health and safety, wellbeing, and the Welsh language.

Stakeholders

We meet regularly with our stakeholders and partners in the education sector, using a variety of channels to engage and consult on a range of activities.

We have led two formal consultations this year in relation to our Strategic Plan 2024-27 and Strategic Equality Plan 2024-28.

We have also engaged widely with registrants and stakeholders, across all sectors, as part of the numerous projects we have led throughout the year.

Hayden Llewellyn
Chief Executive
1 August 2024

Accountability report

Corporate governance report

Directors’ Report

Council

The Council has 14 members, including seven members appointed by Welsh Ministers from nominees of organisations set out in Schedule 2 of the Education Workforce Council (Membership and Appointment) (Wales) Regulations 2014, and seven members appointed directly by Welsh Ministers. The Council governance and committee structures are covered in more detail in the performance report.

Members for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 were:

Eithne Hughes, Chairperson (elected to position from 15 May 2023)
Kelly Edwards
Bethan Thomas
Nicola Stubbins
David Williams
Rosemary Jones
Geraint Williams
Sue Walker
Gwawr Taylor
Theresa Evans-Rickards
Jane Jenkins
Kathryn Robson
Vacancy (since 1 April 2023)
Vacancy (since 1 April 2023)

In addition, the Audit & Scrutiny Committee includes one lay member (Alison Jarvis).

Senior officers

Senior officers for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 were:

Chief Executive - Hayden Llewellyn
Director of Qualifications, Registration & Fitness to Practise - Elizabeth Brimble (until retirement on 31 August 2023)
Director of Finance & Corporate Services - Lisa Winstone
Director of Professional Development, Accreditation & Policy - Bethan Holliday-Stacey
Director of Regulation - David Browne (from 1 September 2023)

The Council maintains a Register of Members’ interests, available on the website, which reports any interests which are, or may be, relevant to their work as a member of Council. Senior officers are required not to hold any remunerated post which would conflict with their duties for the Council, and any other unpaid positions are reported. Details of transactions with related parties including Council members and senior officers are disclosed at Note 19 to the Accounts.

Statement of Council’s and Chief Executive’s responsibilities

Under Paragraph 21 of Schedule 1 to the Education (Wales) Act 2014, the EWC is required to prepare, for each financial year, a statement of accounts in the form and on the basis set out in the Accounts Direction. The Accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of the EWC’s state of affairs at the year-end and of its income and expenditure, and cash flows for the financial year.

In preparing the Accounts, the EWC is required to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual and in particular to:

observe the Accounts Direction issued by Welsh Government, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis
make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis
state whether applicable accounting standards, as set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual, have been followed, and disclose and explain any material departures in the financial statements
prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis

The responsibilities of the Chief Executive, are set out in Managing Welsh Public Money, published by Welsh Government including responsibility for:

the propriety and regularity of the public finances (for which the Chief Executive is answerable)
keeping proper records
safeguarding the EWC’s assets

As Chief Executive, I confirm that:

as far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the EWC’s auditors are unaware
I have taken all the steps that I ought to have taken to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the EWC’s auditors are aware of that information
this Annual Report and Accounts as a whole is fair, balanced, and understandable and that I take personal responsibility for this Annual Report and Accounts and the judgments required for determining that it is fair, balanced, and understandable

Annual Governance Statement

The EWC is committed to achieving high standards of governance in the achieving its corporate objectives, including the proper management and control of its resources. This statement describes the governance arrangements for the EWC in 2023-24 and the EWC’s risk and control framework, concluding with an assessment of their effectiveness in the year.

As an independent, professional regulator and a public body, the EWC is not legislatively bound by the central government Corporate Governance Code, although it chooses to follow many of its principles to nourish its practices. As part of their terms of appointment and subsequent suite of governing procedures, Council members are required to adopt the Nolan principles of public life through the EWC’s Code of Conduct and Best Practice for Members. This Code is influenced by the Code of Conduct for Board Members of a Public Body (issued by the Cabinet office in 2011 and reviewed in 2019), Committee on Standards in Public Life (The Nolan Committee), and the additional principles outlined in The Conduct of Members (Principles) (Wales) Order 2001.

Role of the Education Workforce Council

The principal aims and functions of the EWC are to:

contribute to improving the standards of teaching and the quality of learning in Wales
maintain and improve standards of professional conduct amongst teachers and others who support teaching and learning in Wales
safeguard the interests of learners, parents/guardians, and the public, and maintain public trust and confidence in the education workforce

Governance framework

The governance framework consists of the systems and processes employed in the achievement of its activities, and is underpinned by the mission, vision, and values of the EWC. It enables the EWC to monitor and control its operations.

The Education Workforce Council is a body corporate, established by the Education (Wales) Act 2014 and various Welsh Government Regulations, including the EWC (Main Functions) (Wales) Regulations 2015. The Council members (refer to directors’ report for further information) are required to comply with the Code of Conduct and Best Practice for Members.

Members sit on one of three Council standing committees: Executive Committee, Registration & Regulation Committee, and Audit & Scrutiny Committee. The Council meets three times annually (although six meetings were held in 2023-24 to consider additional items), and typically each committee also meets three times annually, with business reported to the next Council meeting. In addition, the Council has established a Performance Review Committee, consisting of the Chairperson and two other members which agrees the performance assessment of the Chief Executive, confirms the award of any increment, and sets the objectives for the future year.

The governance framework is formalised through the EWC’s Standing Orders, which set out how the Council and committees function. In support of that are a series of policies and procedures detailing how the EWC operates and the process for achievement of corporate objectives. These make up the EWC’s system of internal control.

The Chairperson is responsible for providing effective strategic leadership on matters such as formulating the EWC’s strategy for discharging its statutory duties, encouraging high standards of propriety, and promoting efficient and effective use of staff and other resources throughout the EWC, and ensuring that the EWC, in reaching decisions, takes proper account of its statutory responsibilities.

Members’ roles are strategic and include focussing on corporate strategy, key strategic objectives and targets, approval of major policy documents, and major decisions involving the use of financial and other resources. Under Standing Orders, the Council may delegate responsibility for specified matters to committees of the Council, the Chairperson, or the Chief Executive. Council members and officers have complementary responsibilities with regard to the formulation and implementation of Council policy.

Responsibility for day to day management is delegated to the Chief Executive and senior staff, within a clear framework of strategic control by Council members. The Chief Executive has responsibility, under the Council, for the overall organisation, management, and staffing of the EWC, including:

ensuring that the EWC complies with all relevant legislation
monitoring compliance with EWC’s internal policies and regulations
staff conduct and discipline.

He is responsible for the EWC’s proper corporate governance, the effective management of the executive, its financial management, and communications with stakeholders. In his absence, the Chief Executive established deputising arrangements with the Director of Qualifications, Registration and Fitness to Practice (until her retirement on 31 August 2023) and the Director of Finance and Corporate Services (with effect from 1 September 2023) covering the role.

The Chief Executive is supported by his Senior Management Team (SMT) which comprises of three directors as senior officers, listed in the directors’ report. The SMT meets on a monthly basis. Its remit is to advise the Chief Executive on progress against its primary activities, to confirm resource allocation, to monitor and control management accounts based on agreed budgets, to review and amend the Risk Register, and to review and approve new and revised policies affecting all aspects of the EWC’s operations.

In 2023-24, the EWC committed to four corporate objectives, namely to:

be an effective independent, professional regulator, working in the public interest and building confidence in the education workforce
support professionalism and learning within the education workforce
seek to inform, shape, and influence educational policy in Wales for the benefit of the education workforce
be a resilient, capable, and financially sustainable organisation that offers value for money to registrants

Objectives are interpreted into activities via the three-year strategic and annual operational plans. Operational and financial performance is overseen by the Executive Committee via quarterly reviews which report on achievements against objectives for the reported period. Financial accountability is achieved via the annual budget-setting, based on approved plans, with production of monthly management accounts, which are scrutinised by the SMT. The format of the Annual Accounts is based on the Treasury’s Financial Reporting Manual. This ensures clarity about disclosure of financial performance. These Accounts, and the supporting financial systems, are then subject to external audit, confirming their accuracy and disclosure compliance and the regularity of financial transactions.

Risk and control framework

The risk and control framework is underpinned by the risk management policy, which forms a key strand of the EWC’s internal control and corporate governance arrangements. The policy is aligned to the main principles outlined in HM Treasury’s Orange Book, although this has not been formally adopted as an approach for the EWC. The policy acknowledges that it is not possible to eliminate all risk but through the Risk Register, documents the processes by which risk is reduced to an acceptable level. It also notes that whilst the SMT is responsible for managing the risks, all staff have a role in identifying new potential risks. The policy is reviewed bi-annually, and was last reviewed in July 2023.

The Risk Register details all key threats to achieving the corporate objectives, agreed in the strategic and operational plans. Each key risk is given a score based on its potential impact on the business of the EWC and its likelihood of occurring. The management strategy involves accepting, avoiding, reducing or transferring risks in response. Specific actions required are identified, allocated to a senior manager and actioned by set deadlines. The Risk Register includes an evaluation of the level of ‘residual risk’ after the application of the control. Both opening and residual risks are represented using the traffic light warning system, and are coloured accordingly (red/amber/green). All risks were considered at the quarterly review.

At the year-end, the Risk Register included the following main risks:

	Principal risk	Key mitigations
Red Inherent risk Amber Residual risk	If we do not register and regulate registrant groups in line with Welsh Government legislation then our reputation would be damaged and could result in legal action being taken.	Monitor volume of applications and FTP cases. Arrangements in place to support employer eligibility checks. Have in place non-compliance procedures with employers. Procedures in place for members and officers.
Red Inherent risk Amber Residual risk	If operational activity is such that the EWC expenditure exceeds registration fee income, then there could be insufficient funds available to deliver our objectives.	Set prudent budgets. Close scrutiny and monitoring of registration numbers and expenditure. Identify cost and efficiency savings. Highlight any concerns to Welsh Government. Maintain adequate level of financial reserves.
Red Inherent risk Amber Residual risk	If a Fitness to Practise Committee makes a decision that is challenged in the High Court and lost, then there will be financial and reputational implications for the organisation.	Competencies for panel members and recruitment against these. Procedures in place for members and officers. Annual training for panel members and half yearly training for chairs. High quality legal support for panels and presenting officer services and High Court Appeals. Communications and media handling protocols in place.
Red Inherent risk Amber Residual risk	Following the ONS classification of EWC as a Public Body and its subsequent inclusion in the Government Wales Act 2006 (Budget Motions and Designated Bodies), then EWC resources could be subject to Welsh Parliament controls resulting in our budget being 'voted' by the Senedd and our reserves no longer controlled by EWC.	Regular meetings are held with Welsh Government officials to discuss how working arrangement will operate. Keep up to date with sector on the classification and designation processes.
Red Inherent risk Amber Residual risk	Failure to have a registration database in place which is fit for purpose resulting in the inability to discharge our statutory responsibilities.	Contract in place to deliver the upgraded database. Project plan developed to monitor and manage the project delivery. Move the current system to the server hosted environment being used to implement the upgraded system prior to the end of support for Windows in the existing system.

The Risk Register is reviewed quarterly by senior officers, and at meetings of the Audit & Scrutiny Committee, which has a remit to oversee the EWC’s risk management policy. Progress is reported and new risks and controls identified during the regular review by the SMT. No new risks were added to the register in 2023-24.

The Risk Register is taken to Council for consideration once annually, when members confirm that the overall assessment is consistent with Council’s overall risk appetite. This is currently defined as being risk averse and was last reviewed in July 2023.

Financial risks are controlled by a detailed suite of financial control procedures setting out controls, specifying responsibilities, and levels of delegation. Compliance with these procedures promotes high standards of good governance. These were last reviewed in March 2024 to ensure up to date and fit for purpose.

The EWC and Council are determined to ensure that fraud is not accepted or tolerated. There are a number of steps in place to ensure that fraud is prevented including separation of functions set out in the financial control procedures, regular financial monitoring and reconciliation, a staff Code of Conduct describing the standards expected of EWC officers, clear line management systems, and a whistleblowing policy. There were no whistleblowing incidents in the year, nor were any allegations of misconduct received otherwise.

The system of internal control is designed to manage risk to a reasonable level (rather than to eliminate all risk of failure) in order to achieve policies, aims, and objectives. It can therefore only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness. The system of internal control is based on an ongoing process designed to:

identify and prioritise the risks to the achievement of the EWC’s policies, aims, and objectives
evaluate the likelihood of those risks being realised and the impact should they be realised
manage them efficiently, effectively, and economically.

The system of internal control has been in place in the EWC for the year ended 31 March 2024 and up to the date of approval of the Annual Report and Accounts, and accords with Treasury guidance.

The EWC’s business continuity and disaster recovery plan addresses key risks to the organisation in the event of a threat to business continuity relating to buildings or information systems. This includes an annual testing of the plan. The scenario this year was based on a fraudulent supplier payment and what short, medium, and long-term actions should be taken to address the issue.

The EWC is a data-rich organisation in respect of the education workforce in Wales. Data is contained within the EWC’s databases with the appropriate safeguards in place and, where relevant, shared with individual registrants and specified information with employers/other organisations. Other internal data is stored securely and managed in accordance with the data protection principles. There have been no reportable data breaches to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) during the year, as confirmed at monthly meetings of the SMT.

We have continued to invest in our IT infrastructure to ensure our internal and external systems remain robust. Information security is supported by the nightly backup of EWC data to an off-site cloud-based backup service. During the year we upgraded the finance system, Access Dimensions which is now hosted on cloud rather than on-premise.

The EWC has a published standards of service document with a system and timescale for dealing with complaints. There have been no complaints this financial year.

The EWC is committed to deploying its human resources to promote strong corporate governance. It is committed to developing competent and well-trained people to perform the various functions. During the year, it continued with an all-staff training programme, covering specific and general topics. This is in addition to individual identified training provision, including support for studying toward relevant professional qualifications.

An induction day was held with new and existing Council members in April 2023 which covered a variety of topics including an overview from officers on EWC, registration and regulation, policy, engagement, Welsh Government funded work, governance and member support, and finance and compliance. In addition, sessions with external speakers were also held covering equality and best practice for board members. An annual training day is also planned on 25 April 2024.

The EWC has its own annual Performance and Development Review (PDR) programme, which assesses officers’ performance over the previous year and identifies specific objectives and training needs for the following year.

All officers are obliged to comply with the Code of Conduct for employees of the EWC. The EWC has a range of HR policies to ensure consistent expectations and levels of support. Staff have recourse to a whistleblowing policy including named Council members should the need arise. No matters were raised in 2023-24.

Review of Council’s effectiveness

Members’ attendance at meetings held during 2023-24 is detailed in the following table:

Member	Council attendance (total possible in brackets)	Standing Committee attendance (total possible in brackets)
		Executive	Registration & Regulation	Audit & Scrutiny
Eithne Hughes	5(6)	3(3)
Bethan Thomas	5(6)	3(3)
David Williams	5(6)		1(3)
Geraint Williams	6(6)		2(3)
Gwawr Taylor*	6(6)			4(4)
Jane Jenkins	6(6)	2(3)
Kathryn Robson	5(6)	1(3)
Kelly Edwards	6(6)			4(4)
Nicola Stubbins	6(6)		3(3)
Rosemary Jones	6(6)			4(4)
Sue Walker	4(6)		3(3)
Theresa Evans-Rickards	6(6)	3(3)

*Chairperson of Audit & Scrutiny Committee

Members participate in an annual members’ review process, including an annual self-assessment of performance by members themselves, and an assessment of performance of all members by the Chairperson. This has recently been completed for the 2023-24 year and continues to be very successful.

Achievements against operational objectives are reported and reviewed regularly throughout the year via quarterly reviews. These reviews note achievement on the short-term outcomes and highlight any action remaining. This document is considered by the Chief Executive and the SMT and is overseen by the Executive Committee. A summary of the EWC’s achievements of objectives in 2023-24 is given in the performance report.

In addition, in respect of activities which are publicly funded, regular meetings are held with Welsh Government officials to monitor the achievement of those specific operational objectives. All operational targets were achieved.

Audit & Scrutiny Committee

The Audit & Scrutiny Committee plays a significant role in the corporate governance structure, and through its review advises the Chief Executive on the efficacy of policies, systems and procedures. Its terms of reference are included within EWC’s standing orders.

During the year, it has received and reviewed various reports from both internal and external auditors, completed an assessment of internal and external auditors’ performance and reviewed the Risk Register at each meeting. The committee also received an annual report on compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection Act and an annual report on IT services.

All committee activity has supported a positive assessment of the EWC’s governance arrangements.

Internal audit

TIAA act as internal auditors for the year ending 31 March 2024. Within an over-arching three-year plan which ensures cyclical coverage of all areas, an annual programme of work is agreed prior to the financial year. As reviews are completed during the year, reports are presented to the Audit & Scrutiny Committee. The results of the year are summarised in an annual report.

A total of five reports were completed in 2023-24:

covering risk management – mitigating controls
governance – strategic control
stakeholder communications
financial systems – budgetary control, banking and cash management and general ledger
qualified teacher status and induction certificates

The following table summarises the level of assurance, and recommendations from each review:

Area	Assurance	Recommendations: Priority
Area	Assurance	High	Medium	Low
Risk Management – Mitigating Controls	Substantial	-	-	-
Governance – Strategic Control	Substantial	-	-	-
Stakeholder Communications	Substantial	-	-	-
Finance: Budgetary Control, Banking and Cash Management and General Ledger	Substantial	-	-	-
Qualified Teacher Status and Induction Certificates	Substantial	-	-	-

The annual report concluded that “…for the areas reviewed during the year, the Education Workforce Council has reasonable and effective risk management, control and governance processes in place.”

External audit

Assessment on the effectiveness of the governance framework is also implicit in the findings and reports of the financial audit. The Auditor General for Wales (AGW) is the statutory external auditor of the Education Workforce Council, appointed under the Education (Wales) Act 2014. The audit of the 2023-24 Annual Accounts was completed on his behalf by Audit Wales.

Comments on the audit of the 2022-23 Annual Accounts were positive, with the AGW issuing an unqualified audit opinion, confirming that no significant matters had arisen as a result of audit testing, and noting that auditors had not found any material instances where resources have not been properly used and accounted for.

Significant governance issues

The Council has not identified any significant governance issues in the year. Nor have any areas of concern been identified which require strengthening or improvement.

My operational focus has been on:

(a) registering and regulating each of the 11 registrant groups set out in legislation, including bringing practitioners from independent schools and colleges onto the register from May 2023 for the first time

(b) working with Welsh Government to initiate further changes to legislation in 2024-25 in the areas of registration and regulation

(d) delivering all Welsh Government grant funded activities to standards agreed

(e) understanding the implications for the EWC as a result of being classified as a public body and designated by Welsh Government in the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Budget Motions and designated bodies) (Amendment) Order 2023

(f) reviewing the impact on EWC reserves as a result of the removal of the registrant fee subsidy from Welsh Government and reviewing options for a future fee review

(g) Supporting a new Chairperson and Council members through training and induction and working with Welsh Government to fill the remaining vacancies on Council

There were no losses or special payments incurred in the year.

In addition, there were no referrals to the Information Commissioner in respect of activity in-year and no complaints have been raised.

Statement by Chief Executive

In summary, I am satisfied that the governance framework of the EWC during the year has been effective, giving assurance of the proper stewardship of resources in performance of its objectives.

Hayden Llewellyn
Chief Executive
1 August 2024

Remuneration and staff report

Remuneration policy

The remuneration and staff report details remuneration practices in respect of Council members and EWC staff.

Service contracts

Staff appointments are made in accordance with the EWC’s recruitment and selection policy, which requires appointments to be on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, but also includes the circumstances when appointments may otherwise be made.

The senior staff covered by this report hold appointments which are open-ended. Early termination, other than for misconduct, would result in the individual receiving compensation as set out in the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

With the exception of the Chief Executive, all staff salaries are based on Welsh Government salary scales. The Chief Executive’s remuneration is based on an incremental scale, and any progression is approved by the Chairperson and confirmed by the Performance Review Committee. No bonuses are payable.

Members’ remuneration*

The Chairperson is the only member of Council who may be remunerated. The office is not entitled to membership of the Council’s pension scheme.

Eithne Hughes was elected as Chairperson to serve for the period until March 2027 following Angela Jardine’s end of term on 31 March 2023. As a serving Trade Union representative, this appointment is treated as a secondment and a proportion of salary is reimbursed to her employer. Mrs Hughes received no remuneration directly, nor any benefits-in-kind. The Chairperson’s commitment is estimated at an average one and a half days per week.

All other Council members are paid for their expenses, including the reimbursement of costs incurred in travelling to meetings and also payment of supply cover to their employers or equivalent costs, as appropriate. This expenditure is reported as Members’ costs at Note 3 (direct programme costs).

	2023-24 £000’s	2022-23 £000’s
Reimbursement of costs to employer - Chairperson Angela Jardine	-	37
Eithne Hughes	30	-

2023-24 £000’s

2022-23 £000’s

Reimbursement of costs to employer - Chairperson

Angela Jardine

Eithne Hughes

*This information is subject to audit

Senior staff remuneration*

The salary, pension entitlements and the value of any taxable benefits in kind of the most senior officers of the Council were, as follows:

	Salary (£000's)		Bonus payments (£000's)		Pension benefits (£000's) [1]		Total (£000's)
Single total figure of remuneration*
	2023-24	2022-23	2023-24	2022-23	2023-24	2022-23	2023-24	2022-23
Hayden Llewellyn (M) Chief Executive	105-110	100-105	-	-	27	-12	130-135	90-95
Elizabeth Brimble (F)* Director of Qualifications, Registration & Fitness to Practise	40-45	85-90	-	-	16	6	55-60	90-95
Lisa Winstone (F) Director of Finance & Corporate Services	85-90	75-80	-	-	19	30	105-110	105-110
Bethan Holliday-Stacey (F) Director of Professional Development, Accreditation & Policy	80-85	75-80	-	-	21	16	105-110	95-100
David Browne (M)* Director of Regulation	40-45	-	-	-	16	-	55-60	-

* Elizabeth Brimble resigned 31 August 2023 and David Browne promoted to Director from 1 September 2023. He was previously employed in a non-director role prior to this. Costs above only relate to the proportion of time he was employed as a Director.

[1] The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as (the real increase in pension multiplied by 20) plus (the real increase in any lump sum) less (the contributions made by the individual). The real increase excludes increases due to inflation or any increase or decrease due to a transfer of pension rights.

Salary

‘Salary’ includes gross salary; overtime; reserved rights to London weighting or London allowances; recruitment and retention allowances; private office allowances and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on payments made by the EWC and thus recorded in these Accounts.

No bonuses are payable by the EWC.

*This information is subject to audit

Fair pay disclosures*

Reporting bodies are required to disclose the relationship between the remuneration of the highest-paid director in their organisation and the remuneration of the organisation’s workforce.

	2023-24	2022-23
Band of highest paid individual’s remuneration (£000's)	105-110	100-105
% change from the previous financial year for the highest paid director	4.88%	5.13%
Average salary and allowances (excluding highest-paid director)	£38,816	£37,372
% change from previous financial year for the employees as a whole	3.86%	2.62%

The banded remuneration of the highest-paid director in the EWC in the financial year 2023-24 was £105,000-£110,000 (2022-23, £100,000-£105,000). The percentage change from the previous financial year is 4.88% (2022-23 5.13%). The average salary and allowances (excluding the highest paid director) has increased by 3.86% (2022-23 2.62%) due to the implementation of an all staff pay award with effect from 1 April 2023 and a £1,500 non-consolidated cost of living payment to all staff which was made in August 2023.

Pay ratios	2023-24	2022-23
25^th percentile total pay and benefits	£29,999	£30,610
25^th percentile pay ratio	3.6	3.4
Median total pay and benefits	£32,141	£31,535
Median pay ratio	3.3	3.3
75^th percentile total pay and benefits	£41,675	£39,690
75^th percentile pay ratio	2.6	2.6

The remuneration of the highest paid director was 3.6 times (2022-23 3.4) the 25th percentile remuneration of the workforce, which was £29,999 (2022-23 £30,610), 3.3 times (2022-23 3.3) the median remuneration of the workforce, which was £32,141 (2022-23 £31,535), and 2.6 times (2022-23 2.6) the 75th percentile remuneration of the workforce, which was £41,675 (2022-23 £39,690). The 25th percentile pay ratio has slightly increased this year with the other ratios remaining fairly static. There was a 5% all staff pay award implemented with effect from 1 April 2023.

In 2023-24, no employees (2022-23, nil) received remuneration in excess of the highest-paid director (the Chief Executive). Remuneration ranged from £26,901 to £106,056 (2022-23, £25,620 to £101,006).

Total remuneration includes salary, non-consolidated performance-related pay, and benefits-in-kind. It does not include employer pension contributions and the cash equivalent transfer value of pensions.

Benefits in kind

The monetary value of benefits in kind covers any benefits provided by the EWC and treated by HM Revenue and Customs as a taxable emolument. No benefits in kind were paid during the year.

Pension benefits*

	Accrued pension at pension age as at 31/3/24 and related lump sum	Real increase in pension and related lump sum at pension age	CETV at 31/3/24	CETV at 31/3/23	Real increase in CETV
	£000's	£000's	£000's	£000's	£000's
Hayden Llewellyn (M) Chief Executive	40 - 45 plus a lump sum of 115-120	0 – 2.5 plus a lump sum of 0	1020	920	15
Elizabeth Brimble (F) Director of Qualifications, Registration & Fitness to Practice	0 – 5	0 – 2.5	42	27	10
Lisa Winstone (F) Director of Finance & Corporate Services	20 - 25	0 – 2.5	339	290	9
Bethan Holliday-Stacey (F) Director of Professional Development, Accreditation & Policy	30 - 35 plus a lump sum of 85 -90	0 – 2.5 plus a lump sum of 0	663	597	10
David Browne (M) Director of Regulation	5 -10	0 – 2.5	79	63	11

Civil Service Pensions

Pension benefits are provided through the Civil Service pension arrangements. Before 1 April 2015, the only scheme was the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is divided into a few different sections – classic, premium, and classic plus provide benefits on a final salary basis, whilst nuvos provides benefits on a career average basis. From 1 April 2015 a new pension scheme for civil servants was introduced – the Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme or alpha, which provides benefits on a career average basis. All newly appointed civil servants, and the majority of those already in service, joined the new scheme.

The PCSPS and alpha are unfunded statutory schemes. Employees and employers make contributions (employee contributions range between 4.6% and 8.05%, depending on salary). The balance of the cost of benefits in payment is met by monies voted by Parliament each year. Pensions in payment are increased annually in line with the Pensions Increase legislation. Instead of the defined benefit arrangements, employees may opt for a defined contribution pension with an employer contribution, the partnership pension account.

In alpha, pension builds up at a rate of 2.32% of pensionable earnings each year, and the total amount accrued is adjusted annually in line with a rate set by HM Treasury. Members may opt to give up (commute) pension for a lump sum up to the limits set by the Finance Act 2004. All members who switched to alpha from the PCSPS had their PCSPS benefits ‘banked’, with those with earlier benefits in one of the final salary sections of the PCSPS having those benefits based on their final salary when they leave alpha.

The accrued pensions shown in this report are the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach normal pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over normal pension age. Normal pension age is 60 for members of classic, premium, and classic plus, 65 for members of nuvos, and the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha. The pension figures in this report show pension earned in PCSPS or alpha, – as appropriate. Where a member has benefits in both the PCSPS and alpha, the figures show the combined value of their benefits in the two schemes, but note that the constituent parts of that pension may be payable from different ages.

When the Government introduced new public service pension schemes in 2015, there were transitional arrangements which treated existing scheme members differently based on their age. Older members of the PCSPS remained in that scheme, rather than moving to alpha. In 2018, the Court of Appeal found that the transitional arrangements in the public service pension schemes unlawfully discriminated against younger members.

As a result, steps are being taken to remedy those 2015 reforms, making the pension scheme provisions fair to all members. The public service pensions remedy is made up of two parts. The first part closed the PCSPS on 31 March 2022, with all active members becoming members of alpha from 1 April 2022. The second part removes the age discrimination for the remedy period, between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, by moving the membership of eligible members during this period back into the PCSPS on 1 October 2023. This is known as ’rollback’.

For members who are in scope of the public service pension remedy, the calculation of their benefits for the purpose of calculating their Cash Equivalent Transfer Value and their single total figure of remuneration, as of 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024, reflects the fact that membership between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 has been rolled back into the PCSPS. Although members will in due course get an option to decide whether that period should count towards PCSPS or alpha benefits, the figures show the rolled back position i.e., PCSPS benefits for that period.

The partnership pension account is an occupational defined contribution pension arrangement which is part of the Legal & General Mastertrust. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member). The employee does not have to contribute, but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer’s basic contribution). Employers also contribute a further 0.5% of pensionable salary to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found on their website.

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent spouse’s pension payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the pension scheme, not just their service in a senior capacity to which disclosure applies.

The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the Civil Service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost. CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.

Real increase in CETV

This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement), and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.

Compensation for loss of office

No compensation payments for loss of office were made in the year to those staff included in this remuneration and staff report, or any other employees.

Staff report

Number of persons employed by employment type*

During 2023-24, the EWC employed an average of 56.3 staff~ (2022-23 – 55.1) (including officers on maternity leave), as follows:

	EWC	WG	Total	2022-23
Permanent contract	37	18.3	55.3	54.1
Fixed term contract	1	0	1	1
Temporary	0	0	0	0
Total	38	18.3	56.3	55.1

~Full time equivalents

The staff composition by gender as at the end of the financial year was, as follows:

By gender	31 March 2024			31 March 2023
Staff	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Senior	2	2	4	1	3	4
General	16	36	52	19	34	53
Temporary	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	18	38	56	20	37	57

The average age of the EWC’s staff on 31 March 2024 was 41 years (41 years, at 31 March 2023)..

Sickness absence

The EWC monitors sickness absence on an ongoing basis, reviewing both cumulative and long-term absences. In 2023-24, employees reported a total of 265.5 days sickness absence (218.5 days, 2022-23) of which 32.7% was in respect of long-term sickness (20.6%, 2022-23).

Absence due to sickness is higher than the previous reporting year, but lower than the national average, reporting an average of 4.73 days per employee (4.01 days, 2022-23). The most recently reported national average was 5.7 days per worker in 2022 (ONS, 2023). In February 2024, the UK Government reported that the average for civil service staff in the year ending 31 March 2023 was 8.1 days per worker (UK Gov, 2024). There were no retirements on the grounds of ill health.

During the year, the Chief Executive had a period of long-term sickness from 24 July 2023 to 25 August 2023. During this time his duties were covered by the Deputy Chief Executive.

Staff costs*

	EWC		WG activities		2023-24	2022-23
	Permanent staff	Other	Permanent staff	Other	Total	Total
	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Salaries	1,549	0	724	0	2,273	2,065
Social Security costs	166	0	78	0	244	231
Pension costs	401	0	191	0	592	563
Total	2,116	0	993	0	3,109	2,859
Agency costs	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	2,116	0	993	0	3,109	2,859

No agency staff have been utilised during 2023-24 (2022-23, nil).

The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) and the Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme (CSOPS) (known as alpha) are unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme but the EWC is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme actuary valued the scheme as at 31 March 2020. You can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation

For 2023-24, employers’ contributions of £592,347 were payable to the PCSPS (2022-23, £563,185) at one of four rates in the range 26.6% to 30.3% of pensionable earnings, based on salary bands. The scheme actuary reviews employer contributions usually every four years following a full scheme valuation. The contribution rates are set to meet the cost of the benefits accruing during 2023-24 to be paid when the member retires and not the benefits paid during this period to existing pensioners.

Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. No EWC employees took up this option, and therefore no employer’s contributions were made.

Off-payroll arrangements

No payments were made under off-payroll arrangements during the year (2022-23, nil)..

Exit packages

There were no redundancy or other departure costs in the year (2022-23, £nil).

*The above information is subject to audit.

Hayden Llewellyn
Chief Executive
1 August 2024

Audit report

The Certificate and report of the Auditor General for Wales to the Senedd

Opinion on financial statements

I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the Education Workforce Council for the year ended 2023-24 under the Education (Wales) Act 2014.

The financial statements comprise the Statements of Comprehensive Income, Financial Position, Cash Flows, Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity, and related notes, including the significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards as interpreted and adapted by HM Treasury’s Financial Reporting Manual.
In my opinion, in all material respects, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the Council’s affairs as at 31st March 2024 and of its surplus on ordinary activities for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards as interpreted and adapted by HM Treasury’s Financial Reporting Manual.
have been properly prepared in accordance with Welsh Ministers’ directions issued under the Education (Wales) Act 2014.

Opinion on regularity

In my opinion, in all material respects, the income and expenditure recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by the Senedd and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

Basis for opinions

I conducted my audit in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing in the UK (ISAs (UK)) and Practice Note 10 ‘Audit of Financial Statements of Public Sector Entities in the United Kingdom’. My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of my certificate.

My staff and I are independent of the body in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK including the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard, and I have fulfilled my other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinions.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, I have concluded that the use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the body’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

My responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Chief Executive with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this certificate.

The going concern basis of accounting for the Council is adopted in consideration of the requirements set out in HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual, which require entities to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements where it anticipated that the services which they provide will continue into the future.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and my auditor’s report thereon. The Chief Executive is responsible for the other information in the annual report. My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in my report, I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. My responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact.

I have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters

In my opinion, the part of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with Welsh Ministers’ directions made under the Education (Wales) Act 2014.

In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of my audit:

the parts of the Accountability Report subject to audit have been properly prepared in accordance with Welsh Minsters’ directions made under the Education (Wales) Act 2014; and
the information given in the Foreword, Performance Report and Accountability Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and is in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which I report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the body and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, I have not identified material misstatements in the Foreword, Performance Report and Accountability Report.

I have nothing to report in respect of the following matters which I report to you if, in my opinion:

I have not received all of the information and explanations I require for my audit;
proper accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for my audit have not been received from branches not visited by my team;
the financial statements and the audited part of the Accountability Report are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns;
information specified by Welsh Ministers regarding remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed;
certain disclosures of remuneration specified by HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual are not made or parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
the Governance Statement does not reflect compliance with HM Treasury’s guidance.

Responsibilities of the Chief Executive for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the Statement of the Council’s and Chief Executive’s Responsibilities, the Chief Executive is responsible for:

maintaining proper accounting records;
the preparation of the financial statements and Annual Report in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view;
ensuring that the Annual Report and financial statements as a whole are fair, balanced and understandable;
ensuring the regularity of financial transactions;
internal controls as the Chief Executive determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements to be free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error;
assessing the Council’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Chief Executive anticipates that the services provided by the Council will not continue to be provided in the future.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

My responsibility is to audit, certify and report on the financial statements in accordance with the Education (Wales) Act 2014.

My objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes my opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. I design procedures in line with my responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

My procedures included the following:

enquiring of management, the audited entity’s head of internal audit and those charged with governance, including obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation relating to the Council’s policies and procedures concerned with:
- identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;
- detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; and
- the internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.
considering as an audit team how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud. As part of this discussion, I identified potential for fraud in the following areas: revenue recognition, expenditure recognition, and the posting of unusual journals;
obtaining an understanding of the Council’s framework of authority as well as other legal and regulatory frameworks that the Council operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the Council;
obtaining an understanding of related party relationships.

In addition to the above, my procedures to respond to identified risks included the following:

reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with relevant laws and regulations discussed above;
enquiring of management, the Audit Committee and legal advisors about actual and potential litigation and claims;
reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and the Senior Management Team;
in addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

I also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all audit team members and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

The extent to which my procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is affected by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the Council’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed.

A further description of the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my auditor’s report.

Other auditor’s responsibilities

I obtain evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by the Senedd and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

I communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that I identify during my audit.

Report

I have no observations to make on these financial statements.

Adrian Crompton
Auditor General for Wales

1 Capital Quarter
Tyndall Street
Cardiff
CF10 4BZ

7 August 2024

The maintenance and integrity of the Council’s website is the responsibility of the Chief Executive; the work carried out by auditors does not involve consideration of these matters and accordingly auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially presented on the website.

Financial statements

Statement of comprehensive income for the year ending 31 March 2024

	Note	2023-24	2022-23
		£000’s	£000’s
Income
Grant from Welsh Government		9,252	9,389
Registration fees		2,756	2,644
Other income	2	101	103
Release from Reserves	15	67	53
Total income		12,176	12,189

Expenditure
Staff costs	*	3,109	2,859
Direct programme costs	3	1,677	1,546
Induction programme costs	4	6,406	6,615
Other operating costs	5	424	383
Depreciation	7	68	84
Amortisation	8	449	424
Right of use lease depreciation	9	121	122
Finance charges – lease	17	6	7
Total expenditure		12,260	12,040

Surplus/(Deficit) on ordinary activities		(84)	149

Interest receivable	6	219	98

Net income for the year transferred to reserves		135	247

All EWC-funded activities are continuing.

*A breakdown of staff costs is included in the staff report.

The notes form part of these accounts.

Statement of financial position as at 31 March 2024

	Note	31 March 2024	31 March 2023
Non-current assets		£000’s	£000’s
Property, plant and equipment	7	34	89
Intangible assets	8	648	904
Right of use asset – lease	9	517	638
Total non-current assets		1,199	1,631

Current assets
Short-term investments		2,503	2,503
Trade and other receivables	10	469	723
Cash and cash equivalents	11	5,237	5403
Total current assets		8,209	8,629

Total assets		9,408	10,260

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	12	(3,143)	(3,829)
Provisions for liabilities and charges	13	-	-
Total current liabilities		(3,143)	(3,829)

Non-current assets +/- net current assets/liabilities		6,265	6,431

Non-current liabilities
Deferred grant income	12	(242)	(351)
Deferred creditor	12	-	-
Right of use lease liability	17	(420)	(545)
Total on-current liabilities		(662)	(896)
Assets less liabilities		5,603	5,535

Financed by:
Taxpayers' equity
General reserve		4,536	4,401
Database reserve	15	767	797
Fitness to Practise reserve	15	300	300
Accommodation reserve	15	-	37
Total capital and reserves		5,603	5,535

Hayden Llewellyn
Chief Executive
1 August 2024

The notes form part of these accounts.

Statement of cash flows for the year ending 31 March 2024

	Note	2023-24	2022-23
		£000’s	£000’s

Cash flows from operating activities	14	(48)	1,052

Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received	6	219	98
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	7	(13)	(30)
Purchase of intangible assets	8	(192)	(488)
Increase in short-term investments		(0)	(0)
Right of use asset: lease payments	17	(131)	(95)

Net Increase/(Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		(166)	531

Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April		5,403	4,872
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March		5,237	5,403

Statement of changes in taxpayers’ equity for the year ending 31 March 2024

	General reserve	Designated reserves	Total	2022-23
Balance at 1 April	4,401	1,134	5,535	5,296
Surplus for the year	135	-	135	247
Transfers to/(from) designated reserves (Note 15)	-	(67)	(67)	(8)
Balance at 31 March	4,536	1,067	5,603	5,535

The notes form part of these accounts.

Notes to the accounts

1. Accounting policies

1.1 Accounting convention

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the 2023-24 Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) issued by HM Treasury. The accounting policies contained in the FReM apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adapted or interpreted for the public sector context. Where the FReM permits a choice of accounting policy, the accounting policy which is judged to be most appropriate to the particular circumstances of the Education Workforce Council (the EWC) for the purpose of giving a true and fair view has been selected. The particular policies adopted by the EWC are described below. They have been applied consistently in dealing with items that are considered material to the Accounts.

Accounting standards issued, not yet effective:

IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts has not yet been adopted by the public sector and the date of adoption is 1 April 2025. The underlying aim of IFRS 17 is to make risk transfer contracts more comparable between different entities. As the EWC does not hold any insurance contracts, this is unlikely to have an impact on the EWC’s financial statements when this is adopted.

1.2 Registration fee income

The registration year runs from 1 April to 31 March annually with the fee becoming due on 1 April every year. The fee is required to be paid in full regardless of the date a practitioner actually registers with the EWC – there is no reduction for part-year registration.

Fee income was credited to the Statement of Comprehensive Income on an accruals basis, with any fees received in advance for the following financial year being treated as pre-paid income and recorded in the Statement of Financial Position as a liability.

1.3 Induction expenditure

Induction programme expenditure is recognised on the basis of the academic term in which the training activity was completed. Grant expenditure and income due in respect of the spring term is included within Accruals (grant expenditure due to schools) and Receivables (grant due from Welsh Government) depending on the timing of payment and receipt of relevant grants. Spring term could occasionally span two financial years, although this is not always the case as Easter determines the spring term end date. For this reason, and as approved by audit historically, the spring term, regardless of when it finishes, is accounted for in the year where all, or the majority of sessions occur.

1.4 Non-current assets

Non-current assets are defined as any single piece of equipment, costing more than £1,000 (inclusive of VAT) that has an estimated economic/operational life of more than one year. Where it is more usual to treat individual components as a group, these are treated as assets so long as their collective value exceeds the capitalisation threshold.

Non-current assets have been valued at historic cost at the year-end as, in the opinion of the EWC, any revaluation adjustments are not material.

1.5 Depreciation

Depreciation is provided on all non-current assets at rates calculated to write off the cost, less any estimated residual value of each asset, evenly over their expected useful lives as follows:

all electrical equipment, including computers and office equipment, is depreciated on a straight-line basis over three years
furniture and fixtures and fittings are depreciated on a straight-line basis over five years

In all cases, depreciation will commence from the month following purchase.

1.6 Intangible assets

Software development work and website content and licences costing more than £1,000 (inclusive of VAT) and with an estimated economic/operational life of more than one year are capitalised.

Amortisation is provided on intangible assets at rates calculated to write off the cost of each asset over its expected useful life:

database and website development work is amortised on a straight-line basis over three years
software licences are amortised on a straight-line basis over their life

In both cases, amortisation will commence from the month following purchase.

1.7 Government grants

The EWC receives project grant income from Welsh Government for the following areas:

administering the award of QTS
administering funding, tracking, and recording arrangements for induction
developing and hosting the PLP
issuing induction certificates
developing the Educators Wales website
acting as the Secretariat to the IWPRB
data analysis
leading a range of national initiatives and research projects on specific teaching and learning matters

In addition to project grant funding, the EWC also receives Grant in Aid from Welsh Government for the following areas:

subsidy to registrants for the registration fee
promoting careers in the education professions

All grants received are credited to the statement of comprehensive income in the year they are received (on an accruals basis), with any outstanding balances credited to accrued or deferred income at the year-end accordingly.

Where funding is received in respect of the purchase of non-current and intangible assets, grant income is treated as deferred (Long Term Liability), and released in proportion to the value of the asset consumed annually.

1.8 Pension costs

Past and present employees are covered by the provisions of the Civil Service Pension Schemes which are described within the remuneration and staff report. The defined benefit elements of the schemes are unfunded. The EWC recognises the expected costs of these elements on a systematic and rational basis over the period during which it benefits from employees’ services by payment to the Principal Civil Service Pension Schemes (PCSPS) of amounts calculated on an accruing basis. Liability for payment of future benefits is a charge on the PCSPS and the Civil Servant and Other Pension Scheme (CSOPS). In respect of the defined contribution elements of the schemes, the EWC recognises the contributions payable for the year.

1.9 Value Added Tax (VAT)

Most of the EWC’s activities are outside the scope of VAT and, in general, output tax does not apply and input tax on purchases is not recoverable. Irrecoverable VAT is charged to the relevant expenditure category or capitalised if related to a fixed asset. Where output tax is charged or input VAT is recoverable, the amounts are stated net of VAT.

1.10 Right of use assets

In accordance with IFRS 16, at inception of a contract, we assess whether or not a contract is, or contains a lease. A contract or parts of a contract that convey the right to use an asset in exchange for consideration are classified as leases and are accounted for in accordance with IFRS 16.

A contract is, or contains a lease, if:

the contract involves the use of an identified asset
we have the right to obtain and substantially all of the economic benefit from the use of the asset throughout the period of use
we have the right to direct the use of the asset

When a lease is recognised in a contract, we recognise a right of use asset and lease liability at the commencement date. The right of use asset is initially measured at cost, which comprises the initial amount of the lease liability adjusted for initial direct costs, prepayments, and incentives.

The right of use asset is depreciated using the straight-line method from the commencement date to the earlier of the end of the useful life of the right of use asset, or the end of the lease term. The estimated useful lives of the right of use assets are determined on the same basis as those of property, plant and equipment assets.

The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments that are not paid at the commencement date, discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease or, if that rate cannot be readily determined, using the HMT issued incremental borrowing rate.

We have excluded contracts for low value items costing less than £5,000 and contracts with a term shorter than twelve months.

1.11 Prepayments

The EWC has adopted a de minimis threshold of £1,200 (£100 monthly equivalent charge) for the recognition of prepayments. Other than for full month prepayments, the profiled charge will commence from the month following payment.

1.12 Provisions for liabilities and charges

The EWC provides for all legal or constructive obligations that are of uncertain timing or amount at the statement of financial position date on the basis of the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation. In accordance with IAS 37, provisions are only recognised where the transfer of economic benefit is probable, and the amount can be reasonably estimated.

1.13 Short term investments

In accordance with its cash management policy, the EWC holds short-term investments, for up to 12 months, on deposit with one of the main high street banks.

1.14 Employee benefits

As required, the EWC recognises the cost of employee benefits including:

short-term employee benefits, being the ’cost’ of untaken annual leave at the year-end
post-employment benefits, in respect of termination benefits

1.15 Cash and cash equivalents

The EWC’s core functions are funded from fee income from the statutory annual registration of practitioners, and other activities completed on behalf of Welsh Government are funded by grant. Fee income is received annually in advance and grant funding is drawn down on a quarterly and then monthly basis, as required. Because of the non-trading nature of these activities and these sources of funding, the EWC is not exposed to any degree of financial risk.

Its cash balances are held in commercial bank accounts: the EWC is exposed to minimal interest rate risk. Although the EWC can borrow funds, it has not required to do so in this financial year.

1.16 Foreign exchange

Transactions which are denominated in a foreign current are translated into sterling at the exchange rate ruling on the date of the transaction.

2. Other Income

	2023-24	2022-23
	£000’s	£000’s
Miscellaneous income	27	27
QMYW contract with Welsh Government	74	76
Total	101	103

The EWC is contracted by Welsh Government to administer and further develop the Quality Mark for Youth Work (QMYW) in Wales. The contract ended on 14 February 2024 and following a retender exercise, the EWC have been awarded the contract until March 2025.

3. Direct programme costs

	2023-24			2022-23
	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000's
	EWC	WG	Total	Total
Members’ costs	37	5	42	39
Panel members’ costs	116	-	116	94
ITE accreditation board costs	56	-	56	58
Professional Learning Passport	-	150	150	117
IWPRB Secretariat	-	140	140	140
Promotion of Careers/Educators Wales	-	194	194	251
Database maintenance and development	12	2	14	14
Legal and professional fees - FTP	901	-	901	784
Translation costs	31	-	31	16
Printing, postage, promotional costs & professional fees	33	-	33	33
Total	1,186	491	1,677	1,546

Fitness to practise panel member costs, legal fees, and translation costs are higher this year due to more hearings being held (52 compared with 46 held in 22/23). Promotion of careers/Educators Wales costs are lower this year due to lower advocacy and recruitment costs.

4. Induction programme costs

All Welsh Government expenditure	2023-24	2022-23
	£000’s	£000’s
Administration	80	85
Induction grant expenditure	6,326	6,530
Total	6,406	6,615

In the autumn term 2021, Welsh Government increased the level of funding which the EWC released to schools who are providing NQTs with induction support from a maximum of £700 per term to £900 per term. Funding of £350 per term was also made available for those undertaking the induction mentor role. This year, there has been a significant decrease in the numbers of NQTs in receipt of induction funding, this has impacted upon the level of grant remitted. Although the overall number of NQTs has declined, there has been a continued increase in the number of payments made at the maximum termly rate.

On behalf of Welsh Government, the EWC administers funding to the regional consortia/local authorities/schools for the provision of the external verifier role (EV). In September 2022, Welsh Government announced that short term supply NQTs would be supported through induction by an external mentor (EM) who performs the dual role of induction mentor and EV. Funding for the role of EM is paid at £817 per NQT being supported, the role of EV is paid at £467 per NQT being supported.

As previously noted, whilst there has been a decrease in the number of NQTs requiring the support of an EV, this academic year has seen a significant increase in the number of NQTs undertaking induction through short term supply work. This has impacted upon the level of funding remitted and grant required to support the roles of EMs/EVs.

5. Other operating costs

			2023-24	2022-23
	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
	EWC	WG	Total	Total
Officers’ expenses	8	-	8	6
Training and recruitment	32	-	32	32
Rent and rates	68	-	68	54
Service charge and utilities	92	-	92	59
Professional fees	8	-	8	49
Insurance	21	-	21	20
Printing & stationery	5	-	5	3
Postage	9	-	9	23
Computer costs	85	-	85	67
Venue hire	8	-	8	3
Audit fees	24	-	24	18
Maintenance	4	-	4	1
Other costs	59	1	60	48

Total	423	1	424	383

Last year, we had three months rent free as part of a lease negotiation to remove the break clause for office accommodation, therefore, rent and rates costs are higher this year. Service charge and utilities are higher this year due to a general increase in costs and an additional balancing charge being paid relating to a prior year service charge. Computer costs are also higher this year due to the upgrade of the finance system which moved the hosting to the cloud from on-premise, resulting in additional hosting fees.

Professional fees are lower this year as last years contained the cost of commissioning a discovery project for a new registration database. Postage costs are also lower this year as last year included the costs of a post out exercise for the Code of Conduct.

6. Interest receivable

Interest of £219,072 (2022-23: £97,819) was received during the period in respect of the EWC’s bank accounts, including an accrual of £6,754 (2022-23, £2,558).

7. Non-current assets

	Office equipment	Computer equipment	Furniture and fittings	Total
	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Cost or valuation
As at 1 April 2023	46	227	322	595
Additions	3	8	2	13
Disposals	(5)	(10)	-	(15)
As at 31 March 2024	44	225	324	593
Depreciation
As at 1 April 2023	42	182	282	506
Charge for year	3	26	39	68
Disposals	(5)	(10)	-	(15)
As at 31 March 2024	40	198	321	559

Net Book Value as at 31 March 2024	4	27	3	34

Net Book Value as at 1 April 2023	5	45	40	89

Of the Net Book Value at 31 March 2024, £1,400 was in support of Welsh Government-funded activities (£3,600, as at 31 March 2023).

8. Intangible assets

	Database developments	Total
	£000’s	£000’s
Cost or valuation
As at 1 April 2023	2,818	2,818
Additions	192	192
Disposals	-	-
As at 31 March 2024	3,010	3,010
Amortisation
As at 1 April 2023	1,913	1,913
Charge for year	449	449
Disposals	-	-
As at 31 March 2024	2,362	2,362

Net Book Value as at 31 March 2024	648	648

Net Book Value as at 1 April 2023	904	904

Of the Net Book Value at 31 March 2024, £553,000 was in support of Welsh Government-funded activities (£777,000, as at 31 March 2023), mainly relating to the continuing development of Educators Wales platform and the PLP.

There has been no impairment of either non-current or intangible assets, which are shown at cost and considered to be at ‘fair value’.

9. Right of use asset - lease

	Office Lease	Total
	£000’s	£000’s
Cost or valuation
As at 1 April 2023	760	760
Additions	-	-
As at 31 March 2024	760	760
Depreciation
As at 1 April 2023	122	122
Charge for year	121	121
As at 31 March 2024	243	243

Net Book Value as at 31 March 2024	517	517

Net Book Value as at 1 April 2023	638	638

IFRS16: Leases became effective from 1 April 2022. The EWC has complied with this standard and adopted the simple approach to introducing right of use assets. The only right of use asset is the office lease for floors 9 and 10 of Eastgate House. The lease is due to end on 30 June 2028.

10. Trade and other receivables

	31 March 2024	31 March 2023
	£000’s	£000’s
Amounts falling due within one year
Other receivables	289	590
Prepayments	180	133

Total	469	723

The decrease in other receivables is mainly due to the timing and value of Welsh Government year-end debtor.

11. Cash and cash equivalents

	2023-24	2022-23
	£000’s	£000’s
Balance at 1 April	5,403	4,872
Net change in cash and cash equivalent balances	(166)	531

Balance at 31 March	5,237	5,403

The EWC’s cash balances were held in a commercial bank at year end. No balances were held with the Office of HM Paymaster General.

12. Trade and other payables

	31 March 2024	31 March 2023
	£000’s	£000’s
Amounts falling due within one year
Registration fees prepaid	762	815
Other payables	804	372
Right of use lease liabilities	126	125
Other taxation and social security	66	74
Pension	60	58
Deferred income: Welsh Government grant	350	555
Accruals	975	1,830

Total	3,143	3,829

Amounts falling due after more than one year

Deferred income: Welsh Government grant	242	351
Right of use lease liabilities	420	545

Total	662	896

Accruals are lower this year largely due to the value of the year end induction accrual (refer to note 4).

The EWC received grant income from Welsh Government toward the cost of non-current assets. Since these assets will be depreciated over their useful economic life, a deferred liability is recognised at purchase which will be released over the life of the assets

13. Provisions for liabilities and charges

Provisions are recognised in the financial statements when the EWC considers that, as a result of a past event, it has a legal or constructive obligation which will probably result in the transfer of economic benefit and which can be reliably estimated.

	Buildings refurbishment	Total
	£000’s	£000’s
Balance at 1 April	-	-
Provided in the year	-	-
Released in the year	-	-
Balance as at 31 March	-	-

14. Notes to the cash flow statement

Reconciliation of surplus on ordinary activities to net cash inflow from ordinary activities

	2023-24	2022-23
	£000’s	£000’s
(Deficit)/Surplus on ordinary activities	(84)	149
Depreciation	68	206
Amortisation	449	424
Depreciation ROU asset	121
ROU asset interest	6
Increase/(Decrease) in Trade and other payables	(686)	345
(Increase)/Decrease in Trade and other receivables	253	57
Increase/(Decrease) in Deferred creditor	-	43
Increase/(Decrease) in Deferred liability	(108)	(79)
Increase/(Decrease) in provisions	-	-
Release to/from reserves	(67)	(8)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from ordinary activities	(48)	1,052

There is no deferred creditor in 2023-24 as this related to the building lease which was previously treated as an operating lease and under IFRS 16 this no longer applies.

Analyses of changes in net funds during the period

	2023-24	2022-23
	£000’s	£000’s
Net funds as at 1 April	5,403	4,872
Net cash inflow/(outflow)	(166)	531
Net funds at 31 March	5,237	5,403

All balances as at 31 March 2024 were held with a commercial bank (including an amount of £2,503,279 held in a 95 day notice account), and cash.

15. Designated reserves

In accordance with the EWC’s financial strategy, the following designated reserves have been established:

Fitness to Practise (FtP) reserve - to minimise the effect of fluctuation in the volume of referred cases on the EWC’s financial position, and to provide for the costs of any legal challenge above and beyond those costs covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Database reserve – to fund the replacement of the Register of Education Practitioners database.

Accommodation reserve - to support the EWC's future costs in respect of its accommodation needs, including the requirement for additional space to host FTP hearings in-house.

	Database reserve £000’s	Fitness to Practise reserve £000’s	Accom-modation reserve £000’s	Total £000’s
Balance at 1 April	797	300	37	1,134
Release from reserves	(30)	-	(37)	(67)
Addition to reserves	-	-	-	-
Balance at 31 March	767	300	-	1,067

16. Capital Commitments

At 31 March 2024, the EWC had capital commitments valued at £643,530 (2022-23, £559,179). This relates to the ongoing upgrade of the registration database, development of digital content for Educators Wales, and phase two of the improvements to the reporting functionality within the PLP.

17. Right of use Lease Liabilities

	31 March 2024	31 March 2023
	£000’s	£000’s
Balance at 1 April	671	760
Repayments	(131)	(95)
Finance charges	6	6
Total	546	671

Annual commitment on building leases by year:
Within one year	126	125

Between one year and five years	420	515
Beyond five years	-	31
	420	546

Total	546	671

18. Derivatives and other financial instruments

The EWC has no borrowings and mitigates its exposure to liquidity risk by managing its resources.

All assets and liabilities are denominated in sterling, and so it is not exposed to currency risk.

19. Related party transactions

Welsh Government is regarded as a related party, and during the year the EWC received grant totalling £9,252,000 (£9,389,000 2022-23). This includes a year-end debtor balance of £253,514, (£545,860 2022-23) for the final grant draw down for 2023-24 which is submitted to Welsh Government in June. In addition, as per note 2, the EWC has a contract with Welsh Government to administer and further develop the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales. During the year the EWC received £73,791 (£75,766 2022-23) from Welsh Government for this contracted work. There have been no expenditure transactions with Welsh Government during 2023-24 (£nil 2022-23).

Council members may also hold positions with organisations that the EWC has transactions with. However, Council members have no influence over these transactions as they occur in the normal course of the EWC’s activities.

During 2023-24, neither Council members, EWC senior officers, nor any of their family were involved directly or indirectly in any transactions with the EWC, apart from the normal payment of expenses and salary.

20. Contingent liabilities

There are no contingent liabilities (2022-23, £nil).

21. Events after the reporting period

There are no events to report as at the date of signing of these Accounts.

The Chief Executive authorised these Accounts for issue on 1 August 2024.

Download the Welsh Language Standards Monitoring Report 2023-24 (PDF)

Introduction

The Education Workforce Council (EWC) is the independent, professional regulator for the education workforce in Wales.

We are included in category four of the Welsh language standards. This requires us to comply with 148 standards covering service delivery, operational matters, policy making, and record keeping. Our standards of service policy, and guidance on using and promoting the Welsh language internally, explains how we will act in accordance with the requirements of the standards and follows the principle that Welsh and English have equal status in our work and administration. They also recognise our responsibility to promote and develop the use of Welsh within our workplace and the wider education workforce in which our registrants practice.

Alongside these documents, this annual report sets out our compliance with the Welsh language standards during 2023-24, detailing how we have worked to promote use of the language, both amongst our own employees, and in engaging with registrants and other external stakeholders.

Our standards, compliance, and monitoring

All employees have a responsibility to ensure that they comply with the standards on our website (in compliance with operational standard 149). We also publish information on our website detailing our compliance in this area.

Compliance with the Welsh language standards is a standing agenda item at monthly senior management team meetings. Responsibility for monitoring compliance with the standards lies with the Director of Professional Development, Accreditation and Policy. This annual report is discussed by our Executive Committee in the first instance and thereafter, discussed and approved by our Council.

In the previous reporting year, our regulatory compliance arrangements (which included our compliance with the Welsh language standards) were subject to an internal audit. We received substantial assurance with no recommendations.

Should the Welsh Language Commissioner request information on how we comply with the standards, we are under a duty to provide it. We have continued to engage constructively with the Welsh Language Commissioner over the course of the reporting period regarding our efforts to promote and encourage use of the Welsh language.

Compliance

Service delivery standards

Written correspondence (including email correspondence)

When the preferred language of the person we are contacting is unknown, or when writing to groups of people such as through email newsletters, all initial correspondence is bilingual, with Welsh positioned on the left or on top so that it appears first. Where we know the language preference, communication is then conducted in that language. When someone writes to us using both Welsh and English, we provide a bilingual response.

Our letterheads include a statement welcoming correspondence in Welsh and advising that the use of Welsh will not lead to a delay in responding.

All email signatures and/or email footers:

state that we are happy to receive correspondence in Welsh and English and that response times are the same for both languages
include Welsh in the Workplace logos for employees who are fluent speakers or learners (also demonstrating compliance with operational standard 128)
include bilingual job titles and contact details (also demonstrating compliance with operational standard 129)

All out of office replies are in Welsh and English as standard.

Telephone calls

Our main telephone number connects to an automated telephone system which greets the caller bilingually (Welsh message first). Thereafter, the system allows the caller to choose whether they wish to speak to an employee in Welsh or English. We have trained employees on how to deal with calls in order to ensure that callers receive the best service in the language of their choice.

In instances where a caller, whose preferred language is Welsh, wishes to speak to an individual with specific expertise who is not a Welsh speaker, the caller is informed and asked if they are content to be transferred to the individual to conduct the conversation through the medium of English.

On occasions when a call from an individual whose preferred language is Welsh needs to be transferred to a specific department during a time when all Welsh speaking staff are on other calls (or otherwise unavailable), the caller is asked if they wish to continue to hold, to leave their contact details so that they receive a call back as soon as possible, or be transferred to a member of staff to continue their call through the medium of English (demonstrating compliance with operational standard 17). This is offered to all callers regardless of language preference when phone lines are busy. A summary of the number of calls received during 2023-24, in Welsh and English, is provided below^[1]:

	Number of calls received in Welsh	Number of calls received in English
Quarter 1	399 (8%)	4,622 (92%)
Quarter 2	285 (7%)	3,788 (93%)
Quarter 3	322 (10%)	3,006 (90%)
Quarter 4	264 (7.5%)	3,218 (92.5%)
Total	1,270 (8%)	14,624 (92%)

Meetings

When arranging meetings and events such as focus groups or research interviews, we confirm the preferred language of attendees in advance and offer simultaneous translation, if required.

The Council conducts its meetings bilingually by agreement of Council members, employing a simultaneous translation service to ensure that all participants and observers can follow proceedings. Minutes of the public Council meetings are approved bilingually by the Council and published bilingually on our website.

Events

Over the last year, we have hosted several events to promote our work and engage with registrants and stakeholders. We provide full simultaneous translation at all public events that we organise, allowing presenters and audience members to participate in Welsh or English. All events in the reporting year have taken place virtually, via Zoom. We use the Zoom platform to host our online events as it allows for simultaneous translation to be provided.

At all events that took place during the reporting period, the event’s host addressed the audience bilingually in the opening and closing remarks. The audience were able to submit questions via the chat function in Welsh or English, and during two of our events, the audience were able to ask questions orally in either language (one question was asked in Welsh).

All PowerPoint presentations used at these events have been bilingual. All events are recorded and subtitled in both Welsh and English. These recordings are available directly from our website.

Our public events are all free of charge, and we administer our ticketing bilingually through an online platform, Ticket Source. As part of the sign-up procedure, we record information regarding whether the attendees speak Welsh.

In May 2023, we had a week-long presence at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Carmarthenshire, sharing a stand with Educators Wales. We also had a stand with Educators Wales in the Royal Welsh in July, and in the National Eisteddfod in Pen Llyn in August. We also attended events including conference ‘market places’, university open days, and recruitment fairs (both virtually and in person). We ensured that at least one employee attending major national events such as the Royal Welsh Show and the National Eisteddfod, and cultural events such as Tafwyl, was a Welsh speaker, and employees who are learning Welsh were encouraged to volunteer.

Presentations

As summarised below, we offer presentations on a number of our operational areas in Welsh or English, at the request of employers/stakeholders. We endeavour to provide all presentations in the language requested.^[2]

A presentation on the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice (the Code) is available on our YouTube channel which includes the slides and subtitles in Welsh.

Fitness to practise

The fitness to practise team (and senior officers) regularly visit schools, FE colleges, and other settings across Wales to deliver presentations to current and future registrants, employers/agents, and others about the Code. One presentation we delivered through the medium of Welsh in 2023-24, was attended by over 700 participants across a number of schools within the county.

Registration

Annually, the registration team presents to final year teaching (school and further education) and youth work students at institutions across Wales. In this reporting period, we delivered 29 registration presentations, of which 10 were requested and provided in Welsh. Copies of all slides were provided in Welsh and English after each presentation. Attendees at all presentations were able to ask questions (and receive a response) in Welsh or English.

Professional development and funding

The professional development and funding team offer presentations to newly qualified teachers and relevant stakeholders about the induction profile, and to all registrants and stakeholders about the Professional Learning Passport (PLP). In the reporting period, we received requests for 15 presentations to be delivered in Welsh out of a total of 58.

Promotion of Careers

In the reporting period, the promotion of careers team delivered a total of 87 demonstrations of the Educators Wales website, 15 of which were requested and provided in Welsh.

Signage, notices, publicity, and promotional materials, documents, and forms

We produce all EWC materials either bilingually, with Welsh positioned on the left or on top so that it appears first, or in separate Welsh and English versions. English only versions notify the reader that the material is available in Welsh (demonstrating compliance with operational standards 136, 137, and 138).

Website and social media

Our website and associated web services are bilingual and users can easily switch between Welsh and English. This applies to all of our web services, including the public Register of Educational Practitioners which can be checked by learners, parents/guardians, members of the public, and employers. Of the other web services we provide to our registrants, the PLP is supported by a bilingual app.

During 2023-24, the PLP saw:

197 newly qualified teachers create their induction profiles using the Welsh language version, and 1,161 create it using the English language

4,218 Welsh language professional learning experience templates created, and 23,666 English language
379 Welsh language career entry profiles created (these are created by ITE students in the PLP at the end of their studies and used to identify their strengths and areas for development going into induction), and 1,737 English language

We are also responsible for the Educators Wales website which provides an online platform for the recruitment and retention of education professionals in Wales. The website is compliant with the Welsh language standards, allowing individuals to use the website/service through the medium of Welsh and/or English. It also provides a bilingual webchat service, offering live or next day reply by EWC officers. 13 queries were received via the webchat service in Welsh and 317 in English during 2023-24. We also received 239 direct emails, three of which were in Welsh.

Our social media accounts include Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), and LinkedIn for the EWC. Educators Wales have their own social media accounts (with separate accounts for Welsh and English), and include Facebook, X, and Instagram. Within these platforms, the EWC post all messages in Welsh and English on a single feed, whilst the Educators Wales post in the respective language account. We also respond to all social media messages in the language of the original query.

Our YouTube channel hosts videos posted in Welsh and English wherever possible. We usually provide separate videos, one with subtitles in Welsh and one with subtitles in English..

The communications manager is responsible for all social media output.

Office reception

Within our corporate services team, two of the four posts are Welsh essential, ensuring that we are able to provide full bilingual reception cover. All Welsh-speaking employees are provided with, and encouraged to wear, the Welsh at work lanyard or pin badge (also demonstrating compliance with operational standard 130 and 130A), and posters are on display in reception to inform visitors that we provide a bilingual service. The visitors' signing in book is also bilingual.

Other Welsh language service delivery information

Initial teacher education (ITE) accreditation

We are responsible for accrediting and monitoring ITE programmes in Wales. We notify all providers about the importance of the Welsh language in the accreditation process and that the accreditation arrangements operate bilingually. On all visits (virtual or on-site) to Partnerships, we welcome presentations and professional dialogue through the medium of Welsh, or bilingually. We also offer simultaneous translation services at all visits (virtual or on-site).

During the period, simultaneous translation services were used for one monitoring visit (CaBan), one accreditation visit (Cardiff), two virtual visits to assess compliance (Aberystwyth), and four reaccreditation visits (APLP, Aberystwyth, Open University, and Cardiff). In addition, it was used at the ITE stakeholder event, hosted jointly by EWC and Estyn, which took place in person in October 2023.

In December 2023, in collaboration with Welsh Government, we allocated ITE intake numbers for programmes commencing in September 2024 to ITE partnerships. We also provided partnerships with specific targets for the recruitment of Welsh medium teachers (30% of total recruitment). We will monitor recruitment against these targets in 2024-25 and report on this to Welsh Government.

We delegate responsibility for accrediting ITE programmes to our ITE accreditation board (the board). The board consists of up to 12 members, including the chairperson and two deputies, all drawn from different fields of education. There are currently five members who are fluent Welsh speakers.

Promoting careers in the education workforce to Welsh speakers

During 2023-24, we continued to work on a new strategic approach to the promotion of careers in the registered professions. Our approach is aligned with Welsh Government’s ambitions with respect to developing the language skills of all practitioners (and their ability to teach Welsh or deliver through the medium of Welsh) and responds to the Cymraeg 2050 strategy, which identifies the education sector as having a key contribution to make in order to achieve the vision of a million Welsh speakers.

Our advocacy and support team has developed recruitment and engagement plans which include targeted recruitment for Welsh medium teachers. We have a dedicated recruitment and support officer with responsibility for planning and delivering events and promotional activity specifically to support Welsh speaking individuals. This has included:

working with ITE partnerships to deliver information evenings for those considering becoming a Welsh medium teacher
delivering employability workshops and presentations on careers in education in Welsh medium secondary schools
attendance at careers fairs in Welsh medium schools and colleges
presentations to Welsh medium teaching assistants to encourage them to progress into a career in teaching

EWC officers continue to work closely with Welsh Government officials and Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol on a number of actions within Welsh Government’s 10 year Welsh in Education Plan. Bi-monthly meetings have led to collaboratively delivering promotional activity at national Welsh medium events and all communications in relation to Welsh medium teacher recruitment directs users to the Educators Wales website.

Fitness to practise and induction appeals

As at 31 March 2024, we had 60 panel members available to sit on fitness to practise committees, of whom 14 were Welsh speakers

We hear fitness to practise cases and induction appeals in the registrant’s preferred language. Under our procedures, we contact all registrants with a case that comes to us to ask in which language they would like their case conducted. Similarly, if a case continues to a hearing, we again ask the registrant which language they would like the hearing to be conducted in. Witnesses are free to provide evidence in Welsh, irrespective of the language in which the hearing is being conducted.

During the year to 31 March 2024, we heard three hearings fully in Welsh and two hearings partly in Welsh.

Quality Mark for Youth Work (QMYW) in Wales

As at 31 March 2024, we had 48 assessors for the QMYW. Of these, nine are Welsh speakers (at various levels).

Organisations applying for the QMYW may submit documentation in Welsh, English, or bilingually. We conduct QMYW assessments in the applicant’s preferred language. During the year to 31 March 2024, we received no requests for QMYW assessments to be conducted fully, or partially in Welsh.

^[1] Variance between overall numbers of calls reported here (15,894) and total number of calls received by the organisation for the year (16,182) on account of telephone system being unable to differentiate between Welsh language and English language calls when transferred between internal callers.

^[2] Where a request has been made for a presentation to be delivered on a specific date, it may not always be possible to provide a speaker (either in Welsh or English). Where a Welsh speaker is not available we are happy to offer alternative dates when a presentation can be delivered in Welsh.

Policy making standards

Policies and procedures

We have integrated questions on Welsh language into our equality impact assessment (EqIA) process when developing new or revising policies. Through this process, we ensure that we are compliant with the Welsh language standards and that we consider how our policies and procedures may impact Welsh speaking/learner employees, registrants, and stakeholders. We also use this process to actively seek opportunities to promote the status and use of the Welsh language within the workplace, and increase the use of our Welsh language services. We have a policy in place on using Welsh in the workplace (standard 92).

Consultations, research, and statistics

We published two consultations during the reporting year. These related to our new Strategic Equality Plan 2024-2028 and Strategic Plan 2024-2027. Both were conducted bilingually, and considered and sought views about the Welsh language in line with standards 86-88.

In June 2023, we published the findings from the National Further Education and Work-based Learning Workforce Survey for Wales, undertaken on behalf of Welsh Government. In gathering the responses, we issued bilingual correspondence to all FE and work-based learning registrants inviting them to complete the online survey, which was available to complete, in Welsh or English.

In September 2023, we published our Annual Education Workforce Statistics for Wales 2023. This report detailed Welsh language information for the whole education workforce in Wales, across schools, further education, work-based learning, and youth work settings. In February 2024, we also published a series of data analyses of our Welsh speaking registrants detailing insights around their ability to speak the Welsh language, gender, age, nationality, and retention figures of Welsh speakers within the workforce. These analyses covered all of our registrant categories.

Operational standards

Promotion of the Welsh language

We have a policy in place for the promotion of the Welsh language in the workplace. The purpose of this policy is to encourage and promote the use of Welsh internally, highlighting its use as being part of our office culture. Awareness of the Welsh language standards is part of the induction programme for new employees.

We issued our bilingual Cymraeg ar Waith (Welsh at Work) e-newsletter to all staff on a quarterly basis through the year. We have designed the newsletter to promote the use of the Welsh language across our organisation, and help ensure we implement the Welsh language standards consistently.

In January 2024, we launched a staff intranet platform which is bilingual, enabling staff to receive all internal communications (including Cymraeg ar Waith), and access organisational information and corporate literature, through their preferred language. We now share the newsletter and other internal communications on this platform, allowing staff to receive and engage with content in their preferred language.

This year, we also launched our new podcast series, ‘Sgwrsio with the EWC’, with each episode discussing a different topic of relevance to our registrants. In March 2024, the Welsh Language Commissioner and the Director of Strategy from the National Centre for Learning Welsh joined us for an episode in which we discussed issues relating to Welsh in the education workforce. The discussions addressed some of the key challenges, including those around Welsh medium recruitment and how practitioners can develop their Welsh language skills. The conversation also reflected on the progress that has already been made in promoting Welsh medium and bilingual education.

We have fostered an encouraging environment for Welsh learners within the organisation. We encourage employees to speak/learn Welsh and first language Welsh speakers are highly supportive of colleagues who are learners. For example, throughout the year, the communications officer has offered weekly opportunities for colleagues to practice their learning through informal sessions.

Our dedicated EWC Welsh style guide, Yr Arddulliadur, provides all staff guidance on communicating in Welsh.

We have installed the Cysgliad software package, which includes an online Welsh dictionary and spellchecker, on the computers of Welsh-speaking employees. The 'To Bach' programme, which assists with using the circumflex accent that frequently appears in the Welsh language (including personal and place names, e.g. Siân, Dŵr Cymru, Penarlâg), is installed on all computers.

This year, we have created a promotional video on our website and YouTube channel highlighting how we promote the Welsh language to our employees, and the work we do to ensure that all of our services are bilingual.

Policies and procedures

We publish all EWC policies, including those listed in the standards, in Welsh and English on the staff intranet. Any forms or documents associated with the policies are available to employees in Welsh and English, or bilingually.

Our discipline and grievance policies set out employee rights, as per the standards, to use the Welsh language during any procedure.

Complaints

If we receive any complaints, we have processes in place to ensure that we note these in detail and save them electronically. Complaints are also reported to the senior management team for investigation. Our standards of service document is available on our website and we make hard copies available upon request. We have received no requests for copies of our standards of service.

During 2023-24, we received no complaints regarding the Welsh language, or our compliance with the standards.

This year, we have reviewed the section of the webpage concerning complaints relating to the Welsh language on our website. In doing so, we liaised with the Welsh language Commissioner’s office for advice, and made a number of changes to provide further clarity to our service users, based on the feedback that we received.

Welsh language training

The performance development review (PDR) process together with the staff survey referenced below are the primary tool for identifying training and development in Welsh for employees. We support relevant Welsh language training for all employees.

During the reporting year, one member of staff commenced formal Welsh language training and one member of staff continued to undertake further formal Welsh language training.

We have also supported our staff build upon their formal training by offering in-house mentoring sessions. One member of staff, who with our support, has been learning Welsh since 2018, meets with our Welsh speaking communications officer weekly for informal conversation to help build confidence and nurture the skills developed through the formal training.

No training has been provided on the areas outlined in operational standards 122 and 123 during the reporting year. If training is provided in these areas, it will be provided in Welsh as well as English.

Welsh language skills

Employees

We conduct a survey of our employees’ Welsh language skills and abilities annually. We also ask all new starters to complete the questionnaire during their induction. The survey asks employees to provide information regarding their Welsh language skills in relation to listening, reading, speaking, and writing, asking them to assess their abilities using the 0-5 scale (as suggested within the Welsh Language Commissioners advice document). The survey yielded a 96% response rate. We have summarised the response from all employees in the table below and attached a detailed breakdown of responses (by department) as appendix 1.

EWC employee Welsh language survey – summary of results^[3]

	0	1	2	3	4	5	Total
	Competency score
Listening	15	14	2	1	2	20	54
Reading	14	13	4	1	3	19	54
Speaking	14	15	2	1	5	17	54
Writing	15	14	3	0	9	13	54

The employee Welsh language survey also asked employees about their Welsh language training requirements. A total of 11 employees requested Welsh language training with nine interested in introductory/beginner level training, one requesting extension level training, and one wishing to undertake revision/special skills training (for fluent Welsh speakers).

Council members

As part of our data collection, all Council members are asked to indicate their Welsh language abilities. Completion of the survey is voluntary and of the 12 members in post as at 31 March 2024, seven responses were received (Can you understand/ speak/write Welsh? (Tick all that apply)):

Understand spoken Welsh	Speak Welsh	Read Welsh	Write Welsh	None	Other	Prefer not to say
2	2	2	1	3	1	1

ITE accreditation board members

The ITE accreditation board consists of up to 12 members. At the end of the reporting year, there were five members who are fluent Welsh speakers.

Fitness to practise panel members

At the end of the 2023-24 financial year, we had 60 panel members available to sit. Of those, 14 were Welsh speakers.

Quality Mark assessors

At the end of the 2023-24 financial year, we had 48 Quality Mark assessors. Of those, nine were Welsh speakers.

^[3] Note that the number of employee responses to the survey (54) is two short of the total number of employees working for EWC as at 31 March 2024. This is due to two members of staff not responding to the survey.

Recruitment

Before embarking on a process of recruitment, a line manager and the relevant director, using our recruitment requisition form, will evaluate the need for and nature of the potential post, including the need for Welsh language skills. Thereafter, the recruitment process in its entirety, is completed in Welsh and English, or bilingually, including the job advert (including the Welsh language skills category), all supplementary information, application form, and correspondence with applicants.

When advertising Welsh essential posts, we use Welsh language recruitment websites. At interview stage, at least one member of the selection panel is a fluent Welsh speaker and asks the candidate at least one question in Welsh, requiring a response in Welsh.

Our application form provides a space for applicants to indicate if they wish to use the Welsh language at interview or at any other method of assessment. It also explains that we will provide a translation service if required.

When we offer a new post, we ask the individual their preference with regards to receiving any formal correspondence, including the contract of employment, in Welsh.

In the reporting year, we advertised 16 new and vacant posts, as detailed below^[4]:

	AO	EO	HEO	SEO	Grade 7	Director	Total
Essential	0	4	0	0	0	0	4
Desirable	0	6	3	2	1	0	12
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	10	3	2	1	0	16

^[4] In total, we undertook 17 recruitment exercises for 16 vacancies which included two recruitment exercises to successfully fill one post.

Record keeping standards

We keep all records in accordance with the standards and we will provide these to the Welsh Language Commissioner on request.

Appendix 1: Welsh language employee survey: summary of results by department^[5]

Listening

	0	1	2	3	4	5	Total
	Competency score						Total
Senior management	1	1	1	0		1	4
Data	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
Finance & Corporate services	3	2	1	0	2	0	8
Fitness to practise	6	3	0	0	0	1	10
Policy and planning & Communications	0	2	0	0	0	3	5
Professional development and funding	2	0	0	1	0	3	6
Registration	2	4	0	0	0	3	9
ITE accreditation	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Promotion of careers	1	1	0	0	0	3	5
Quality Mark	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Total	15	14	2	1	2	20	54

Reading

	0	1	2	3	4	5	Total
	Competency score						Total
Senior management	1	1	1	0		1	4
Data	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
Finance & Corporate services	2	2	2	0	2	0	8
Fitness to practise	6	3	0	0	0	1	10
Policy and planning & Communications	0	1	1	0	0	3	5
Professional development and funding	2	0	0	1	0	3	6
Registration	2	4	0	0	0	3	9
ITE accreditation	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Promotion of careers	1	1	0	0	1	2	5
Quality Mark	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Total	14	13	4	1	3	19	54

Speaking

	0	1	2	3	4	5	Total
	Competency score						Total
Senior management	1	1	1	0		1	4
Data	0	0	0	0	1	4	5
Finance & Corporate services	2	3	1	0	2	0	8
Fitness to practise	6	3	0	0	0	1	9
Policy and planning & Communications	0	2	0	0	0	3	5
Professional development and funding	2	0	0	1	0	3	6
Registration	2	4	0	0	0	3	9
ITE accreditation	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Promotion of careers	1	1	0	0	2	1	5
Quality Mark	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Total	14	15	2	1	5	17	54

Writing

	0	1	2	3	4	5	Total
	Competency score						Total
Senior management	1	1	1	0		0	4
Data	0	0	0	0	2	3	5
Finance & Corporate services	3	2	1	0	2	0	8
Fitness to practise	6	3	0	0	0	1	10
Policy and planning & Communications	0	2	0	0	0	3	5
Professional development and funding	2	0	1	0	0	3	6
Registration	2	4	0	0	1	2	9
ITE accreditation	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Promotion of careers	1	1	0	0	3	0	5
Quality Mark	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Total	15	14	3	0	9	13	54

^[5] Note that the number of employee responses to the survey (54) is two short of the total number of employees working for EWC as at 31 March 2024. This is due to two members of staff not responding to the survey.

Download the Annual Equality Report 2023-24 (PDF)

Introduction

The Education Workforce Council (EWC) is the independent, professional regulator for the education workforce in Wales.

Established by the Education (Wales) Act 2014, we regulate education practitioners in 11 different registration categories spanning schools, further education, youth work, and work-based learning. Our Register of Education Practitioners is the biggest public register of any profession in Wales and the most wide-ranging register of education professionals in the world, with over 90,000 practitioners registered.

Our commitment to equality and diversity is integral to the EWC and the way we work. Our Strategic Equality Plan (SEP) outlines how we will meet this commitment, as well as our legal obligations, in line with the Equality Act 2010, and the Wales specific public sector equality duty (the equality duty) therein.

In April 2020, following consultation with stakeholders, we published our SEP for the period 2020-24. The plan made clear our commitment, as an organisation, to delivering a series of specific equality objectives, and demonstrated our dedication to combating discrimination and promoting diversity. The SEP was accompanied by a series of action plans and annual monitoring reports.

During the period of the plan, we have undertaken annual reviews and made minor amendments only.

This annual equality report sets out the progress we have made in achieving our four equality objectives during 2023-24.

Our equality processes and procedures

Compliance with our equalities duties is a standing agenda item at monthly senior management team meetings, providing a formal forum to discuss updates or matters arising.

In April 2023, our equality processes and procedures were subject to a regulatory compliance audit which gave substantial assurance and no recommendations.

Equality impact assessments

To ensure that equality is at the forefront of our work and to meet our legal obligations, all relevant policies and procedures must undergo an equality impact assessment (EqIA). All EqIAs are stored in a library and are part of the development and approval process for any new (or reviewed) policy. This helps us to ensure that our decisions are evidence-based and have specific regard to equalities.

During the reporting period, we have begun a review to further develop the process of completing EqIAs. Work on this will continue during 2024-25, with the aim of ensuring that our processes are both efficient and effective.

A summary of EqIAs is scrutinised by the senior management team at its monthly meetings.

Procurement

As a public body, we have a responsibility for ensuring that equality is at the core of our procurement processes. Our procurement policy includes a specific section about equality. This ensures that all contractors and subcontractors providing a service to us are aware of their obligations in helping us achieve our commitment to eliminate unlawful discrimination on the grounds of any of the protected characteristics. It also makes clear the requirement on them to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between all members of society. A section on equality is also included in our procurement statement which is published on our website.

Engagement

Throughout the reporting year, we met with key stakeholders and networks where we have discussed issues relating to equality, appropriate to our remit. We have highlighted relevant equalities information to our registrants and other stakeholders throughout the year (which we discuss in greater detail below).

We have also participated in a number of equalities networks, groups, and partnerships, gaining invaluable insight and learning, including lived experiences, which inform our work, these have included:

Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) Network
South East Wales Equalities Network (SEWEN)
BAMEed Network Wales
Anti-Racist Wales FE Steering Group
Diversity and Anti-Racist Professional Learning (DARPL)
Wales Equality and Human Rights Exchange Network
Colegau Cymru Equality and Diversity group

Achieving our objectives

Objective 1: monitor our employment practices to identify barriers to recruitment and career progression

How will we achieve this objective?

We will monitor our employment practices. This will include examining staff remuneration and looking at staff, Council and committee/panel members^[1] recruitment processes and career progression, with the aim of identifying and addressing any barriers that exist to the development of a diverse workforce and governance structure.

We will:

review and, where necessary, improve recruitment processes for staff, Council and committee/panel members^[1], to help deliver a diverse workforce, ensuring fairness to all under-represented groups
analyse remuneration for all staff, to understand whether any pay gap exists, taking measures to rectify any issues that are uncovered
identify barriers for staff, Council and committee/panel members¹ in accessing training and development opportunities and take steps to remove these

Progress in 2023-24

Staff equalities data is collected annually through a survey and used to inform impact assessments, policy development, and training plans. In our most recent survey, of the 56 staff in post at the time, 50 responses were received (89% response rate). Our staff profile can be seen in annex A.

Our pay scales are transparent and employees receive annual increments until they reach the maximum rate for their pay band. We currently follow Welsh Government’s pay scales. When Welsh Government agree a pay increase, we review this and, if accepted by us as the employer, we formally adopt it. Our gender pay information is reviewed annually. Information for 2023-24 can be found in annex A.

As an organisation, we use the performance and development review (PDR) process to identify individual training and development needs, review progress, and discuss any barriers to access. All employees have equality of opportunity regarding training, where it is considered relevant to the role. We also analyse training completed each year for equality monitoring purposes. As all employee equality data is anonymised, no specific data relating to the protected characteristics of employees who undertook individual training is available. Further details about training provided in 2023-24 can be found under objective two.

We continuously review our recruitment processes to identify and address potential barriers. All posts are advertised externally to reach a wide range of applicants and include a positive statement to encourage applications from a wide and diverse range of individuals. Our short, accessible animation summarising the EWC as an organisation, outlines our staff values, positive organisational culture, and inclusive recruitment processes.

We collect diversity information for all direct applicants, but our application process ensures that all references to names, contact details, or other potential indicators of protected characteristics are anonymised prior to commencing the sift process. In this reporting year, we advertised 16 posts and received 80 diversity monitoring forms. Further details about the profile of applicants can be found in annex A.

Equality information relating to our Council members, in respect of the nine protected characteristics, is also collected. Council members are appointed by Welsh Government through the public appointments system. Whilst we have no jurisdiction over this process, the information we collect can help inform it.

Following Welsh Government’s recruitment process in 2023, six new members were appointed and six members reappointed. Together, they formed the new Council that commenced term on 1 April 2023. Further recruitment activity has continued as Welsh Government seeks to find suitable individuals to fill the remaining two vacancies, with the intention of using these appointments to enhance the ethnic diversity of the Council. We have again supported Welsh Government with this recruitment by signposting the vacancies to our registrants, stakeholders, and networks.

Where we do have jurisdiction in appointing panel members^[2], we seek to attract a wide range of candidates, representative of the diverse landscape of the education workforce in Wales. This year, we have started to collect equality information from our fitness to practise panel members and Initial Teacher Education Accreditation (ITEA) board members. We will continue to do this on an annual basis to further inform future recruitment exercises.

During 2024-25, we will also start to formally collect equality information from our pool of Quality Mark for Youth Work (QMYW) in Wales assessors.

Our processes to monitor our employment practices to identify any barriers to recruitment and career progression are reported to our Council.

^[1] Including members of the Fitness to Practise (FtP) committee, Initial Teacher Education (ITE) accreditation board, and Quality Mark for Youth Work (QMYW) assessors.

^[2] Including members of the FtP committee, ITE accreditation board, and QMYW assessors.

Objective 2: develop an inclusive EWC workforce culture

How will we achieve this objective?

We will work to ensure that our organisation is inclusive, welcoming, and understanding to all employees, Council and committee/panel members¹, in order that they are able to be themselves and can perform to the best of their ability.

We will:

support staff who have caring responsibilities
foster greater awareness of equalities amongst our employees
ensure that our bullying and harassment policies remain up to date
work to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination, in line with the EWC's mental health and well-being policies, and our commitment to the Time to Change Pledge

Progress in 2023-24

In February 2023, we introduced a formal hybrid working policy which allows staff to combine working in the office with working from home. This was reviewed in February 2024 with no changes made in relation to the flexibility it offers. We also offer a flexi-time system for all employees.

April 2023 saw the launch of our second annual wellbeing programme which offered a wide range of activities and opportunities to support staff. We consult with staff, ask for feedback on the current programme, and seek suggestions for future activities regularly via our employee forum.

In September 2023, we launched our first internal equality, diversity, and inclusion newsletter which is published to all staff quarterly. A key tool to helping us embed our commitment to equality and diversity across the organisation, the newsletter offers staff information and support about equality topics, and encourages engagement with awareness days and campaigns.

24/7 access to the Care First employee assistance support helpline is available to everyone in the EWC. It offers confidential advice on a range of issues. We have shared information with staff about the free wellbeing webinars available to them through Care First.

In addition, all staff are provided with regular training in relation to the equality duty and our annual training plan includes at least one mandatory session for all staff on equality matters. This year, staff completed an online training module on equality, diversity, and inclusion awareness, and attended a neurodiversity workshop led by The Brain Charity. When a new member of staff is appointed, the induction process includes an overview of the equality duty.

We currently have three members of staff who are trained as mental health first aiders and a further two will undertake the training in 2024-25.

We include equality inputs in annual training for Council and committee/panel members^[3], encouraging open dialogue surrounding discrimination and lived experiences to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

^[3] Including members of the FtP committee, ITE accreditation board, and QMYW assessors.

Objective 3: ensure our services meet the needs of diverse registrants and stakeholders (including those with protected characteristics) and support our registrants to implement fair and inclusive professional practice

How will we achieve this objective?

As the independent regulator for the education workforce in Wales, we must ensure that we identify any barriers that our registrants and other stakeholders might face when interacting with us. This includes learners and parents/guardians. We also need to support our registrants to implement fair and inclusive professional practice.

We will:

consult and engage with registrants and stakeholders regarding whether our services meet their diverse needs
identify any barriers faced by registrants and stakeholders when interacting with the EWC and take steps to remove these, as appropriate and proportionate

review and publish fitness to practise data to monitor the appropriateness of guidance and inform training needs
- promote awareness of equality and diversity issues within the education workforce to enhance professional practice

Progress in 2023-24

We are committed to making our bilingual communications and information as accessible as possible.

Following a full review, we have comprehensively redesigned our website, incorporating a number of improvements in areas such as accessibility, user journey, branding, and layout. The new website launched in May 2023 following which we sought feedback from service users to inform further improvements. We ensure that the information provided is logically and consistently located, and straightforward to find via a search facility.

Our website currently conforms to level AA standard of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. The accessibility of our website was audited by the Government Digital Service (GDS) in December 2023 which identified some minor issues, however, these were quickly resolved. We offer users of our website access to the ReachDeck Toolbar, web accessibility software which supports people with visual impairments and hidden disabilities, as well as those who lack basic digital skills and people who wish to read the website in a language other than Welsh or English.

All video content (with sound) that is added to our website in Welsh and English is fully captioned. Any audio only content (such as podcasts) is uploaded with an accompanying transcript in both Welsh and English. Whilst our publications are usually in electronic format, we do offer alternative formats on request. An increasing number of our publications are also now published in HTML format, as well as other accessible formats. We continue to review our publications to ensure they are accessible and inclusive for our registrants and the public.

We have held a number of online events throughout the year. Registration to these events has been facilitated through Ticket Source. This platform allows attendees to indicate any reasonable adjustments they may require for an event. We have made adjustments for four attendees during the year, including providing advice to an attendee on how to access the live subtitling facility in the event platform and providing presentation slides to another in advance of the event.

BSL interpretation has been provided for deaf and hard of hearing professionals or registrants who have been involved in virtual fitness to practise meetings.

For service users who wish to receive paper copies of any of our documentation, we provide this upon request via post.

Throughout the reporting year, we have discussed equalities issues appropriate to our remit when meeting with key stakeholders and interest groups. These have included representatives from BAMEed Network Wales, DARPL, and Urban Circle Newport leading to a number of collaborative projects, including:

partnering with DARPL to help organise and promote Wales’ first national diversity and anti-racist leadership conference, which took place in June 2023
recording an episode of our new podcast series, ‘Sgwrsio with the EWC’ focussing on diversifying Wales’ education workforce

We’ve also attended meetings of the SEWEN, PSED Network, and the Anti-Racist Wales FE Steering Group, and a number of events and webinars focused on equality issues. This included the Black Leadership Group’s annual conference, which took place in the Senedd in March 2024.

We continue to gather equality data from registrants who are subject to FtP proceedings through our case management system. In August 2023, we published our fitness to practise annual report, which included equality data for all registrant groups.

To support our registrants, and increase awareness of mental health issues, we have made several recommendations through Meddwl Mawr (our book and journal club) to resources on topics including mindfulness, supporting learners with dyslexia, lesson planning, and equitable education.

In June 2023, we published the findings from the Further Education and Work-Based Learning Education Workforce Survey 2023, which we conducted on behalf of conducted on behalf of the national workload steering group (made up of representatives from Welsh Government, Joint Trade Union Wales, and Colegau Cymru). The survey asked questions on practitioners’ perceptions of their role and career, working patterns and workload, wellbeing and professional learning.

Objective 4: promote the development of a diverse education workforce in Wales

How will we achieve this objective?

Our regulatory responsibilities include promoting careers in the education professions and advising Welsh Government on matters related to the education workforce and teaching and learning. We will use our influence in this area to help promote the development of a more diverse education workforce.

We will:

use our data to monitor and highlight issues relating to equality and diversity across all of our registrant groups
promote diversity within the education workforce as part of a broader campaign to promote careers within the workforce

Progress in 2023-24

The Register of Education Practitioners offers a high-quality evidence base in relation to equality and diversity issues. We have undertaken a number of actions throughout the year to ensure the quality and completeness of the data held on our Register. In September 2023, we published the Annual Education Workforce Statistics for Wales 2023. This included equalities data on practitioners across all 11 of our registrant groups. We have also published other statistical releases throughout the year which have included equalities data, ITE student results, and data on newly qualified teachers.

In August 2023, we signed the Race Council Cymru Zero Racism Wales pledge, demonstrating our commitment to promoting racial harmony and equity through implementing the principles it sets out.

In November 2023, in collaboration with Welsh Government, we allocated ITE intake numbers to ITE partnerships for programmes commencing in September 2024. As part of this, we provided partnerships with specific requirements for the recruitment of Welsh medium teachers and teachers from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities (5% of total recruitment). We monitor recruitment to programmes and report on this to Welsh Government.

Content for Educators Wales (the brand and website that supports the promotion of careers in the education professions in Wales) has been reviewed and further developed in order to ensure that the pages depict a diverse workforce.

Our advocacy and support team has developed recruitment and engagement plans which include targeted recruitment activity for black, Asian and minority ethnic people. To lead the implementation of these targeted plans, we have a dedicated recruitment and support officer in post (a role for which we actively encouraged applications from black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates). Work in this area has included ongoing engagement with diverse groups from across Wales, including the North Wales African Society, Welsh Islamic Cultural Association, Cardiff Council Race Equality Taskforce, , BAME Mental Health Service, South Riverside Community Development Centre, Swansea Council for Voluntary Service, and secondary schools with a high proportion of students identifying as black, Asian and minority ethnic.

Annex A – employment information

Number of people employed by protected characteristic

We gather staff equalities data through our annual staff survey. When requesting the information, we inform staff that completion of the form is voluntary, but in doing so, we will be better enabled to understand the composition of our workforce and examine our practices fully. This gives us an opportunity to target our activities and priorities where any under-representation or inequalities are found. The data is used to inform impact assessments, policy development, and training plans. Our most recent survey took place in March 2024.

Of the 56 staff in post at the time, 50 responses were received (89% response rate). Due to the size of our organisation, figures accounting for 10% or less of the responses have been redacted (represented by an *) to prevent individuals from being identified.

Age

16-24	*
25-34	19
35-44	10
45-54	11
55-64	7
65 & over	*
Prefer not to say	*

Gender/Sex

Male	14
Female	36
Non-Binary	*
Intersex	*
Prefer not to say	*

Are you trans?

Yes	*
No	49
Prefer not to say	*
Did not respond	*

Sexual orientation

Bisexual	*
Gay/lesbian	*
Heterosexual	43
Prefer not to say	*

Relationship status

Married or in a civil partnership	19
Divorced	*
Single	13
Living with a partner in a long-term relationship	13
Partner	*
Separated	*
Widowed	*
Prefer not to say	*

Religion or belief

No religion	27
Atheist	*
Christian	19
Buddhist	*
Hindu	*
Humanist	*
Jewish	*
Muslim	*
Pagan	*
Sikh	*
Prefer not to say	*

Ethnicity

White – Welsh / English / Scottish / Northern Irish / British	45
Irish	*
Mixed – White and Black Caribbean	*
Mixed – White and Asian	*
Asian / Asian British – Indian	*
Asian / Asian British - Bangladeshi	*
Other	*
No response	*

National identity

Welsh	41
English	*
Scottish	*
Irish	*
British	7
Other	*
No response	*

Caring responsibilities

None	26
Primary carer of a child/children (under 18)	17
Primary carer of a disabled child/children	*
Primary carer of a disabled adult (18 and over)	*
Primary carer of older person/people (65 and over)	*
Secondary carer	*
Prefer not to say	*

Disability – Do you consider yourself to have a disability?

Yes, day to day activities limited a lot	*
Yes, day to day activities limited a little	*
No	47
Not sure	*
Prefer not to say	*

Disability – Please tick those impairments or health conditions that apply to you

Learning impairment or disability (for example dyslexia, Downs syndrome, Autism etc.)	*
Long-term health condition (for example epilepsy, diabetes or cancer)	*
Mental ill health (for example depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia)	*
Mobility impairment	*
Prefer not to say	*

Disability – Do you have a disability, as defined by the Equality Act 2010? ^[4]

Yes	*
No	47
Prefer not to say	*

Recruitment data

Where possible, we collect and analyse equalities information relating to staff recruitment. In some instances, where limited applications are received and the use of a recruitment agency is necessary, equalities information is not always provided. Additionally, where internal staff apply for posts, completion of a diversity monitoring form is not mandatory.

In the reporting period, 16 posts were advertised for external recruitment. All direct candidates were provided with the opportunity to complete a diversity monitoring form at the point of application. We received 90 direct applications, from which we received 80 completed diversity monitoring forms. Categories where the response was zero have not been included in the data reported below.

Number of applications received by protected characteristic (where a diversity monitoring form was completed)

Age

16-24	10
25-34	23
35-44	21
45-54	19
55-64	7

Gender/sex

Male	18
Female	61
Non-binary	1

Are you trans?

No	78
Unsure	1
Did not respond	1

Sexual orientation

Bisexual	1
Gay/lesbian	4
Heterosexual	72
Prefer not to say	2
Did not respond	1

Relationship status

Married	30
Divorced	5
Single	13
Living with a partner in a long-term relationship	26
Partner	3
Prefer not to say	3

Religion or belief

No religion or belief	41
Atheist	3
Christian (all denominations)	28
Hindu	1
Muslim	1
Prefer not to say	6

Ethnic group ^[5]

White – Welsh	49
White – English	5
White - British	13
Other white background	6
Mixed/multiple ethnic group – white and Asian	2
Other mixed/multiple ethnic group	2
Asian/Asian British - Indian	2
Asian/Asian British – Pakistani	1
Asian/Asian British - Chinese	1
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British - Caribbean	1
Other Black/African/Caribbean/Black British background	1

National identity ^[6]

Welsh	53
English	6
British	17
Other	7
Did not respond	3

Do you have any caring responsibilities? ^[7]

None	58
Primary carer of a child/children (under 18)	19
Primary carer of a disabled child/children	1
Secondary carer	2
Prefer not to say	1
Did not respond	1

Disability - Do you consider yourself to have a disability?

Yes, day to day activities limited a lot	2
Yes, day to day activities limited a little	2
No	73
Prefer not to say	1
Did not respond	2

Disability - Do you have a disability, as defined by the Equality Act 2010?

Yes	7
No	73

Grievance Procedures

No employees were involved in grievance procedures either as complainant, or as a person against whom a complaint was made, during 2023-24.

Disciplinary Procedures

No employees were subject to disciplinary procedures during 2023-24.

Leavers

As all employee equality data is anonymised, no specific data relating to the protected characteristics of employees who left the organisation is available.

Additional gender pay information as at 31 March 2024

Salary	Grade	Male	Female	Total
£23,258 - £26,901	Team support	0	2	2
£28,245 - £32,141	EO	8	19	27
£34,083 - £41,675	HEO	6	8	14
£43,785 - £51,839	SEO	2	6	8
£56,112 - £67,095	Grade 7	0	1	1
£70,455 - £80,840	Grade 6	1	2	3
£90,696 - £106,056	Chief Executive	1	0	1
Total		18	38	56

Contract type	Male	Female	Total
Permanent	17	38	55
Fixed term	1	0	1
Temporary	0	0	0
Total	18	38	56

Working pattern	Male	Female	Total
Full time	16	34	50
Part time	2	4	6
Total	18	38	56

Note: Analysis includes officers on maternity leave

^[4] You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

^[5] Some candidates identified themselves in more than one ethnic group.

^[6] Some candidates identified themselves with more than one national identity.

^[7] Some candidates selected more than option for their caring responsibilities.

Download the Fitness to Practise Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2024 (PDF)

1. About the EWC

About us

The Education Workforce Council (EWC) is the independent, professional regulator for the education workforce in Wales.

Established by the Education (Wales) Act 2014, practitioners across eleven different groups within the education workforce, from the foundation phase through to further education, youth work, and work-based learning, are legally required to register with the EWC. Our Register of Education Practitioners in Wales is the biggest public register of any profession in Wales, and the most wide-ranging register of education professionals in the world, with over 90,000 practitioners registered.

Our aims

Contribute to improving the standards of teaching and the quality of learning in Wales.
Maintain and improve standards of professional conduct amongst teachers and others who support teaching and learning in Wales.
Safeguard the interests of learners, parents/guardians, and the public, and maintain public trust and confidence in the education workforce.

Our functions

Establish and maintain a Register of Education Practitioners.
Maintain a Code of Professional Conduct and Practice.
Investigate and hear allegations that may call into question a registered practitioner's fitness to practise.
Accredit and monitor programmes of school teacher ITE.
Provide advice to Welsh Government and others.
Monitor induction and hear induction appeals.
Promote careers in the education workforce.
Undertake specific work at the invitation of Welsh Government.

2. The Register of education practitioners

As at 31 March 2024, there were 90,812 individual education practitioners registered with the EWC. However, some registrants are registered in more than one category,; the table below shows the number who were eligible to work in each category on 31 March 2024.

Download chart CSV file

3. The Code or Professional Conduct and Practice

All new registrants receive a copy of the Code upon registration (17,605 new applications in 2023-24), all employers receive copies of the Code annually to disseminate to registered employees and, in addition, there have been over 5,500 views of the Code in year.

Our registrants commit to upholding the five key principles of Personal and Professional Responsibility, Professional Integrity, Collaborative Working, Professional Knowledge and Understanding, and Professional Learning.

The Code is intended to guide registrants’ judgements and decisions. It also informs learners, parents, guardians, employers and the general public of the standards they can expect from a registrant.

Failure to comply with the Code may call a practitioner’s registration into question.

We deliver regular training sessions and presentations which focus on the Code, the use of social media, and professional ethics and responsibilities. We offer a suite of 11 good practice guides, designed to complement the Code and help guide registrants’ day to day professional judgments and decisions. We have also produced a video which talks about the code as well as other fitness to practise (FtP) topics.

4. About Fitness to Practise

We have a statutory duty to investigate and hear cases against registrants of alleged unacceptable professional conduct, serious professional incompetence and/or convicted (at any time) of a relevant criminal offence.

Our Disciplinary Procedures and Rules 2023 set out the procedures we follow in undertaking our work in this area including our powers to impose Interim Suspension Orders (ISO) in specific circumstances.

As at 31 March 2024, we had 60 independent panel members who undertake all fitness to practise work. This pool of panel members is made up of registered practitioners from across the registrant groups, lay members and retired practitioners. No member of Council has any involvement in fitness to practise cases, and they do not sit on panels.

5. Referral of cases

The EWC receive referrals in one of following ways:

Police Referrals

Police forces can make direct referrals to the EWC under common law police disclosure (CLPD).

Employers/Agents

Employers and private supply agencies have a statutory duty to refer a registrant to the EWC where:

a registrant is dismissed, or leaves employment prior to a possible dismissal (e.g. resignation or settlement agreement) (Employers)
an agency cease to use the services of a registrant, or may have done so had the registrant not stopped working for them already

In both cases the grounds for a referral are:

misconduct
professional incompetence
conviction of a relevant offence

Complaints

Any individual or organisation can make a complaint about the alleged conduct or incompetence of a registrant.

Disclosure and Barring Service

The EWC receives direct referrals from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

EWC

The EWC can self-refer registrants where it becomes aware of information about a registrant and considers it is in the public interest to do so.

6. What happens when a case is received?

Most referrals received are considered firstly by an Investigating Committee and the meetings are held in private.

The Investigating Committee includes a minimum of three panel members and is supported by an independent legal adviser who does not participate in the decision making process, but ensures the investigation is fair.

The Committee’s role is to decide whether or not it is likely the facts of the case will be proven, and then whether those findings might amount to unacceptable professional conduct, serious professional incompetence and/or a conviction of a relevant offence, if the case proceeds to a public hearing.

A public hearing is held when an Investigating Committee has decided that a registrant has a ‘case to answer’. The registrant is invited to attend and/or be represented at the hearing.

A Fitness to Practise Committee comprises a minimum of three panel members and the Committee is supported by an independent legal adviser. The Committee which sits at a hearing will not have had any previous knowledge of the case before it.

Possible hearing outcomes are as follows:

Facts not proved
Facts proved but not unacceptable professional conduct/serious professional incompetence and/or a relevant offence
Facts proved – no order
Reprimand – recorded for two years on the Register
Conditional Registration Order – recorded on the Register for a period indicated by the Committee. If no period set, then this Order will apply permanently
Suspension Order – removed from the Register for the period specified by the Committee (not exceeding two years). Conditions can be applied to a Suspension Order
Prohibition Order – removed from the Register. No application can be made for re-admission to the Register until at least two years has elapsed

Following the hearing of a case, should a Fitness to Practise Committee impose a disciplinary order (other than an interim suspension order) upon the registration of an education practitioner, a notice to that affect will appear on the EWC website. The notice will remain for a period of six months from the day it is published.

Any disciplinary order imposed will be recorded on the practitioner’s record on the EWC’s Register, and will be available publically for the duration of the order.

7. Summary of Fitness to Practise casework

This year, we concluded 74 fitness to practise cases (excluding Interim Suspension Orders). This included 52 fitness to practise hearings, 49 of which were virtual hearings and three in person.

The majority of hearings are held virtually. However, In line with the approach of many other regulators, registrants are invited to confirm whether they wish their case to be heard virtually or ‘in-person’. For an ‘in-person’ hearing to be confirmed, the registrant must commit to attending or be represented ‘in-person’ at the hearing.

Notes on the data

A practitioner can be registered in one or more categories at any one time. For the purpose of this report, where a person is registered in more than one category, they are included under ‘Multiple category registrant ’.

7.1 Number of Fitness to Practise cases concluded by registrant group and year

Registrant group	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23	23-24
School teachers (ST)	27	24	25	21	22
FE teachers (FET)	17	6	11	9	6
FE learning support workers (FELSW)	7	2	3	0	6
School learning support workers (SLSW)	21	19	21	21	26
Work-based learning practitioners (WBL)	10	5	9	5	10
Independent school teachers	0	0	0	0	0
Independent school learning support workers	0	0	0	0	0
Independent special post-16 institution teachers	0	0	0	0	0
Independent special post-16 institution learning support workers	0	0	0	0	0
Youth support workers (YSW)	1	1	1	0	0
Youth workers (YW)	0	0	0	0	0
Multiple registrant categories	10	9	16	15	4
Total	93	66	86	71	74

Of the 74 cases referred to above:

52 cases were considered at fitness to practise hearings (not including ISO hearings), including one application which related to readmission to the Register following a Prohibition Order. This application was refused.
14 cases were considered as ‘no case to answer’ (including two cases which were discontinued) by an Investigating Committee.
Three cases involved registrants who were DBS barred prior to the final decision being made by the EWC.

Additional note: four new categories of registration were added to the Register on 22 May 2023. To the end of 31 March 2024, no cases had been completed for any of these new groups.

7.2 Referral source

	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23	23-24
Employer	74.2%	75.8%	73.3%	85.9%	71.3%
Police	10.8%	9.1%	10.5%	7.0%	13.8%
EWC referral	8.6%	7.6%	3.5%	0.0%	8.8%
Self-referral	2.2%	0.0%	11.6%	2.8%	6.3%
Others	4.3%	7.5%	1.2%	4.2%	0.0%

*Other includes complaints, referrals from the DBS, and other regulators

7.3 Outcomes of Fitness to Practise cases by year

	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23	23-24
Concluded with no order imposed	38 (41%)	28 (42%)	27 (31%)	25 (35%)	28 (38%)
Reprimand	18	9	20	19	18
Conditional Registration Order	6	1	1	0	4
Suspension Order (no conditions)	5	5	4	2	2
Suspension Order (with conditions)	3	4	2	2	1
Prohibition Order	22	15	23	17	17
Application for variation/breach of conditions	1	1	0	1	0
Application for eligibility following a Prohibition Order	0	0	3	0	1
DBS Barred before EWC concluded	0	3	6	5	3
Case closed – registrant deceased	0	0	0	0	0
Total	93	66	86	71	74

Note - of the 28 cases concluded with no order:

eight were concluded at hearing stage
12 were considered as ‘no case to answer’ by an Investigating Committee
two were referred back to an Investigating Committee and discontinued
six related to minor convictions and were closed as ‘no further action’

7.4 Types of behaviour – cases concluded 2023-24

Type of behaviour	Number of Cases
Conviction(s) only	17
False claims, declarations, and/or forged documents	10
Failure to meet practitioner standards	9
Convictions and conduct	8
Combination of misconduct issues	7
Unprofessional/inappropriate behaviour towards learners	6
Inappropriate level of punishment/force/restraint/physical contact	4
Examinations/assessment malpractice	2
Inappropriate contact with learners via social media	2
Inappropriate relationship with learners	2
Breach of trust	2
Failure to comply with procedures	1
Abusive language	1
Bullying/harassment of learners	1
Under the influence of alcohol at work	1
Total	73

Note: In 2023-24, one case was concluded which is not included in this table. This was an application for readmission to the Register following a Prohibition Order. The application was refused.

7.5 Completion time for concluded cases in 2023-24

There are a number of factors which affect the timescales for concluding cases, including:

employment tribunal claims (the EWC will place its consideration of the case on hold until the tribunal is concluded)
the registrant suffers from ill-health and medical evidence confirms they are not fit to participate, but wish to do so
issues raised by the registrant or their representative during their case preparation
further concerns established during hearing preparation which require referral back to an Investigating Committee in the first instance

The EWC monitors its own timescales for concluding cases compared to other regulators/professional bodies and it continues to be a leader in this area.

	Number of cases	%
Case concluded within eight months (35 weeks)	61	82%

Case not concluded within eight months (35 weeks)
Issues raised by the registrant/employer	4	6%
Other third party delays for example, the police	3	4%
Additional concerns raised during investigation stage requiring referral back to the Investigating Committee	3	4%
Issues raised by the EWC	3	4%
Total number of cases concluded in 2023-24	74	100%

Of the 61 cases concluded within eight months, the average time taken from receipt to conclusion was 24 weeks (five and a half months).

7.6 The demographic of disciplinary cases concluded in 2023-24

Note:

‘Registered workforce’ is derived from the Register of Education Practitioners as at 31 March 2024.

Gender

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Age

Download chart CSV file

National identity

Download chart CSV file

Ethnic group

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Welsh Language

When a practitioner applies to join the Register, they are asked to confirm whether or not they are able to speak Welsh. A ‘yes’ response means that they are fluent, or fairly fluent in the language.

They are also asked to confirm whether they currently deliver, or are able to deliver education and training, through the medium of Welsh.

In both cases, the responses are based on ‘self-declaration’.

Able to speak Welsh

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Able to deliver education and training through the medium of Welsh

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8. Interim Suspension Orders (ISO)

If we are informed that a practitioner has been accused of very serious misconduct, we have statutory powers to impose an ISO. An ISO will temporarily remove a registered person from the Register as an emergency measure, pending an investigation. This is to protect learners and the public while, for example, a police investigation is concluded.

An ISO can be in place for up to 18 months. Our independent ISO committees also hold regular ISO reviews to make sure that no ISO is applied for longer than is necessary and is proportionate. Those reviews are held are after six months and 12 months, or at any point where there is a change in the situation.

All ISO committee meetings are held in private.

Number of Interim Suspension Orders (ISO) imposed

Registrant group	2022-23	2023-24
School teachers	1	5
FE teachers	0	0
FE learning support workers	0	0
School learning support workers	1	4
Work-based learning practitioners	0	0
Independent school teachers	0	0
Independent school learning support workers	0	0
Independent special post-16 institution teachers	0	0
Independent special post-16 institution learning support workers	0	0
Youth support workers	0	0
Youth workers	0	0
Multiple registrant categories	1	0
Total	3	9

Of the nine cases concluded in 2023–2024, the average time taken from receipt to conclusion was six and a half weeks.

Since ISOs are an emergency measure, the cases are, by their nature and purpose, dealt with quickly.

9. Assessment of suitability for registration

Prospective registrants are asked to answer a number of questions about their previous history when applying for EWC registration. If an applicant answers yes to any question in the declaration, their application will be assessed by the fitness to practise team.

The responsibility is upon the applicant to demonstrate their suitability for registration with us.

Suitability assessment

Stage 1: Officers consider the declaration made to be relatively minor, and that which would not affect the applicant’s suitability for registration. Registration is granted.

Stage 2: The applicant is asked to provide more detailed information about the circumstances of their declaration and some testimonials/representations in support of their suitability for registration. If officers are content with the applicant’s response, registration is granted.

Stage 3: Officers decide to refer the application for independent scrutiny by a Suitability Committee at a private meeting. These referrals relate to declarations where officers are not content to grant registration at Stage 2.

Suitability meeting

The suitability meeting is private and an opportunity for the applicant to explain to the Committee why they consider they are suitable to be registered with us.

The Suitability Committee consists of a minimum of three panel members, including at least one member from the registrant category appropriate to the applicant, and one lay person. The Committee is supported by an independent legal adviser.

Once it has heard from the applicant, the Committee retires to consider, in private, whether to grant registration or not. If registration is not granted, the applicant is not able to make any further application in the same registration category/categories for a further 12 months, after which time they can reapply for registration.

9.1. Number of suitability assessments following an applicant’s declaration being made by, by registrant group, and by year

Registrant Group	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
School learning support workers	84	80	86	96	137
School teachers	30	33	30	24	22
FE teachers	21	16	20	12	9
FE learning support workers	6	5	6	7	8
Work-based learning practitioners	24	14	9	13	17
Youth workers	3	0	0	1	0
Youth support workers	7	6	3	0	2
Independent school learning support workers	0	0	0	0	3
Independent school teachers	0	0	0	0	1
Independent special post-16 institution learning support workers	0	0	0	0	0
Independent special post-16 institution teachers	0	0	0	0	0
Multiple registrant categories	40	27	29	33	19
Total	215	181	183	186	218

9.2. Outcomes of suitability assessments following a declaration being made - by year

Outcomes	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Application granted(stage 1/2)	167 (77.7%)	143(79.0%)	149(81.4%)	159(85.5%)	159(72.9%)
Application granted(stage 3)	8 (3.7%)	2 (1.1%)	10 (5.5%)	4 (2.2%)	8 (3.7%)
Application refused(stage 3)	4 (1.9%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.1%)	4 (2.2%)	1 (0.5%)
Application withdrawn/closed	36(16.7%)	35(19.3%)	22(12.0%)	19(10.1%)	50 (22.9%)
Total	215	181	183	186	218

Note: Applications can be withdrawn/closed by both the EWC and the applicant. For example, where an applicant fails to respond to enquiries about the declaration they have made, we may discontinue our assessment. An applicant may also decide to withdraw their application at any time during the assessment process.

9.3 Type of declaration made - applicants for registration where a declaration has been made – assessment completed 2023-24

Download chart CSV file

Other – includes:

past or pending action by an employer or another regulatory body
a failure to declare information
making a declaration which did not meet the threshold for disclosure

9.4 The demographic of applicants for registration in 2023-2024

Gender

Download chart CSV file

Age

Download chart CSV file

National identity

Download chart CSV file

Ethnic group

Download chart CSV file

10. Induction Appeals

We are the appeals body for those Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in Wales who:

fail their statutory Induction period
have their statutory Induction period extended

and wish to appeal against those decisions, as made by the local authority involved.

In 2023-2024 one induction appeal was considered by the EWC. That appeal was dismissed.

11. Looking forward in 2024-25

Enactment in May 2024 of the Education Workforce Council (Additional Categories of Registration) (Wales) Order 2024, will bring into regulation additional groups of education practitioners, namely senior leaders and principals in further education, and adult learning practitioners. We will then regulate 13 different registration categories within the education workforce in Wales.

We will:

recruit additional panel members in order to maintain a complement that allows the effective administration of our casework.

continue work on developing a range of online material and resources including a number of information videos which inform the public about this area of our work and to assist and support all parties involved in Fitness to Practise casework.

begin work on reviewing our Code in line with the Welsh Government requirement to do so every three years. Our aim is to ensure it is relevant, accessible and meaningful to all categories of registrant including those who have joined the Register since May 2023.

continue to deliver training to a range of different audiences (38 sessions were completed in 2023-24) - current and future registrants, employers, agents and other key stakeholders about the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice.

Download the Strategic Plan 2024-27

Download the Strategic Plan 2024 27 - plan on a page

Foreword from our Chair and Chief Executive

We are pleased to present our Strategic Plan 2024-27. It sets out how we will deliver our core statutory functions effectively, efficiently, and sustainably, ensuring equality and fairness throughout to safeguard learners and young people, and build public trust and confidence in the education workforce.

Our priority must be robust registration and regulation, meaning only those suitable and qualified to practice are able to join the public Register of over 90,000 education professionals. Once registered, we must ensure that they maintain their commitment to uphold the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice whilst achieving the highest professional standards. Where concerns are raised about a registrant, we will investigate their fitness to practise and, if necessary, take appropriate action.

For those aspiring to join the teaching profession, we will continue to provide assurance by confirming that the entry programmes leading to the award of the professional qualification (Qualified Teacher Status) meet the required standard. This work provides confidence to the existing workforce, learners and young people, parents/guardians, and the wider public that quality teachers are joining the workforce.

Fundamental to our approach, and the realisation of this plan, is a collaborative and responsive relationship with our registrants and stakeholders. This involves not only communicating clearly to make sure that our work, and its implications, are understood, but also making sure that registrants and stakeholders are supported in fulfilling their role within a regulated profession.

Beyond regulation, we will continue to contribute as a unique, independent body within the education landscape. Where appropriate, using our position, knowledge, and data from our Register, we will inform the development of evidence-based policy in Wales. In addition, we are committed to fulfilling our distinct role in implementing the Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan, and 10-year Welsh in Education Plan.

The recruitment challenges affecting the education workforce in Wales are well-documented. Through our core function to promote careers, we commit to working with diverse partners, prioritising recruitment from black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities, Welsh speakers, and teachers of shortage subjects. This collaborative effort seeks not only to address current challenges, but to shape a more inclusive and representative workforce for the future.

As an organisation, we are intent on learning and continued improvement. So, throughout the lifespan of this plan, we will evolve, whilst ensuring value for money for our registrants at all times. We will continue to lobby Welsh Government to strengthen the EWC’s regulatory legislation, further improve the visibility of our work as a means to build public trust and confidence in the education workforce in Wales, systematically and continuously review our processes and procedures, and make improvements to our technologies so that registrants and stakeholders receive a high-quality service from us.

Finally, we would like to thank our registrants and stakeholders and look forward to working with you to deliver this Strategic Plan.

Eithne Hughes, Chair

Hayden Llewellyn, Chief Executive

Our role and remit

Vision

To be a trusted, independent, professional regulator that works in the public interest to maintain professionalism and enhance standards within the education workforce in Wales.

Purpose

The Education (Wales) Act 2014 formally sets out our aims and functions.

Our aims

Contribute to improving the standards of teaching and the quality of learning in Wales.
Maintain and improve standards of professional conduct amongst teachers and others who support teaching and learning in Wales.
Safeguard the interests of learners, parents and guardians, and the public, and maintain public trust and confidence in the education workforce.

Our functions

Establish and maintain a Register of Education Practitioners.
Maintain a Code of Professional Conduct and Practice.
Investigate and hear allegations that may call into question a registered practitioner’s fitness to practise.
Accredit and monitor programmes of school teacher ITE.
Provide advice to the Welsh Government and others.
Monitor induction and hear induction appeals.
Promote careers in the education workforce.
Undertake specific work at the invitation of the Welsh Government.

The way we work

Our culture, capabilities, and infrastructure shape how we approach our role as an independent, professional regulator, and as an employer.

Our values

Fairness - We act fairly, and with integrity, to maintain standards and promote professionalism.

Support - We support the education workforce to maintain high standards of conduct and practice.

Excellence - We pursue excellence and endeavour to provide a high-quality service for registrants, stakeholders, learners and young people, parents/guardians, and the public.

Collaboration - We work in partnership with the education workforce, and other stakeholders, to develop and promote excellence in teaching and learning.

Independence - We are independent and regulate in a way that is impartial and based on evidence.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

Our commitment to equality and diversity is integral to how we approach our work. Our Strategic Equality Plan 2024-28 explains how we will work to promote these principles, both inside our organisation, and across the wider education workforce in Wales. We have incorporated actions from the Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan and 10-year Welsh in Education Plan, in which we are identified as a key partner or lead. Actions from the LGBTQ+ Action Plan for Wales, have also been included within our plans.

We are dedicated to minimising our impact on the environment. Our statement on the Section 6 Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty, published on our website, outlines our approach

The Welsh language

We are committed to the Welsh language and proud to be a bilingual organisation, offering our services in both Welsh and English. We work closely with the Welsh Language Commissioner to ensure full compliance with the Welsh language standards.

Financial sustainability

As an independent, professional regulator funded by registration fees, it is essential that we operate within our means and use our resources efficiently. We will continue to strive to keep fees as low as possible, whilst providing the highest level of service in fulfilling our statutory duties. Like other regulators, we maintain adequate financial reserves to provide stability and ensure our services are protected from risks that may arise from unexpected events.

We lead specific activities on behalf of Welsh Government where it is considered that we are the most appropriate body to do such work in Wales. In such instances, Welsh Government will cover our costs through grant funding. We can also undertake commercial activities and do so where we consider this to be in the interests of registrants and the education sector in Wales.

Our people

Our Council is made up of 14 members who set the organisation's strategic direction and is responsible for its governance.

We also maintain and support:

a pool of over 50 fitness to practise panel members
an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) accreditation board of 12 members
a pool of over 45 assessors of the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales

We employ over 50 members of staff.

How we will monitor progress

We will report and publish our progress against the objectives and outcomes of this plan in four quarterly reviews, and in our Annual Report and Accounts, which is laid before the Senedd annually, and audited by Audit Wales.

Key objectives for 2024-27

Our objectives set out how we aim to realise our vision during the lifetime of this plan. These will feed into specific, measurable actions that will be set as part of our annual operational planning process.

Objective 1

Be an effective independent, professional regulator, working in the public interest and building confidence in the education workforce.

Maintain a Register of Education Practitioners that is accurate and accessible.
Operate robust, fair, and transparent regulatory procedures which ensure that only those deemed suitable to practice may do so.
Shape the practice of registrants by developing and promoting high standards of conduct and professionalism.
Accredit and quality assure education programmes and provision in Wales.
Ensure visibility and understanding of the EWC's work amongst registrants, parents/guardians, the public, and our stakeholders through effective, accessible, and responsive communication and engagement.

Objective 2

Support professionalism, and learning and promote careers within the education workforce.

Provide a suite of guidance, resources, and professional services, focused on supporting our registrants to uphold the key principles of the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice.
Lead and support initiatives to promote and encourage effective professional learning for registrants.
Lead and support initiatives to promote research engagement and help disseminate best practice to registrants.
Promote careers within the education workforce and drive improvement in recruitment.

Objective 3

Seek to inform, shape, and influence educational policy in Wales for the benefit of the education workforce.

Provide independent advice, research, and analysis which serves to enhance standards, and inform and influence the development and delivery of education policy in Wales.
Collaborate with registrants, parents/guardians, the public, and our stakeholders to inform and influence education policy in Wales, helping to enhance standards.
Influence Welsh Government and other stakeholders to ensure that legislation underpinning our regulatory functions is sufficiently robust.
Act as Secretariat to the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB).

Objective 4

Be a resilient, capable, and financially sustainable organisation that offers value for money to registrants.

Manage resources effectively and sustainably to meet current and future needs, making appropriate use of technology to drive efficiency and improve our services.
Have effective planning, performance management, and compliance processes ensuring they incorporate best practice.
Be an excellent employer that promotes a supportive and inclusive culture where all staff, Council, and Committee/panel members feel valued and fully able to contribute.
Influence the Welsh Government and other stakeholders to ensure that legislation underpinning our independence, governance, and finances is fit for purpose.

See our current job vacancies .

Why work at the Education Workforce Council (EWC)?

Newsletters

Page 1 of 6

Who are we

Council

Corporate information

Policy and research

Get involved

Registration

Fitness to Practise (FtP)

Professional development tools

Induction

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) accreditation

Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales

Learning support workers in Wales

Have you signed up to Meddwl Mawr?

Registration fees

News

Performance report

Foreword from the Chairperson

Foreword from the Chief Executive

Overview

Objective 1: Be an effective independent, professional regulator, working in the public interest and building confidence in the education workforce

Objective 2: Support professionalism and learning within the education workforce

Objective 3: Seek to inform, shape, and influence educational policy in Wales for the benefit of the education workforce

Objective 4: Be a resilient, capable, and financially sustainable organisation that offers value for money to registrants

About us

Vision

Role and remit

Our aims

Our functions

Our values

Our people

Financial sustainability

The Welsh language

Equality and diversity

Our Council and committee structures

The Council

Executive Committee

Registration and Regulation Committee

Audit and Scrutiny Committee

Strategic objectives 2023-24

Looking to the future

Key risks and challenges

Performance analysis

Objective 1: Be an effective independent regulator, working in the public interest and building confidence in the education workforce

Registration

Suitability for registration

Fitness to practise

Interim suspension orders

Induction appeals

Code of Professional Conduct and Practice

QTS and statutory induction

ITE accreditation

Allocation of ITE intake numbers

Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales

Improving standards in teaching and learning

Legislative matters

Objective 2: Support professionalism and learning within the education workforce

Supporting registrants’ professional practice

Induction

National e-portfolio - Professional Learning Passport (PLP)

Events to support registrants’ professional practice

Case study: EWC Masterclass 2023 – understanding and addressing sexual harassment in educational settings

Supporting practitioner research

Communication and engagement

Case study: Sgwrsio with the EWC podcast

Objective 3: Seek to inform, shape, and influence educational policy in Wales for the benefit of the education workforce

Supporting educational policy

Evidence-based policy advice

Data and analysis

Championing equality and diversity, and health and wellbeing

Case study: Partnership working with DARPL

Promoting careers in education

Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB)

Objective 4: Be a resilient, capable and financially sustainable organisation that offers value for money to registrants

Finance

Cost effective services

Our people

Staff development

Staff wellbeing

Supporting members

IT security