News and Blog

  There are significant gaps in evidence about our most disadvantaged children, reveals an evidence review carried out to assess the state of children’s rights in Wales. Dr Rhian Barrance, Research Associate at WISERD, carried out the review for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales to inform the Commissioner’s strategic priorities. The review identified key evidence…

For the last six years, WISERD Education have been giving surveys about their lives to over a thousand children (8-18) across Wales every year. Here are some of our most interesting findings about children in Wales: 1. Girls are better than boys at school, but are less happy While girls tend to do better academically,…

Dr Rhian Barrance is evaluating the Super Ambassador scheme

Having previously looked at the different types of GCSE courses and how they are assessed, in the third and final blog of this series, Dr Rhian Barrance outlines recent research on tiering and considers how fair it is for different groups of students.   Tiering has been used for GCSEs since they were introduced in 1986. Currently, for…

Earlier this week we looked at the recent reforms to GCSEs across England, Northern Ireland and Wales and considered students’ views on linear and modular courses. In the second part of this series exploring students’ perspectives on the fairness of GCSEs, Dr Rhian Barrance considers whether internal assessment should be used alongside exams. The question of how…

Across England, Northern Ireland and Wales, many 16-year-olds are awaiting the release of their GCSE results tomorrow. This year, for the first time, students in England will receive results for some subjects using the new (9-1) grading system, while students in Northern Ireland and Wales will continue to have their papers graded using the existing…

In the first of a series of blogs about students’ perspectives on the fairness of GCSEs, Dr Rhian Barrance outlines the recent reforms to GCSEs across England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and considers students’ views on linear and modular courses. Across England, Northern Ireland and Wales, many 16-year-olds are awaiting the release of their GCSE…

Dr Rhian Barrance presents her research into teenagers wanting more choice and fairness when it comes to GCSEs, part of a study with Queen’s University Belfast. The article can be seen by following the link here.

A new study by researchers from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) and Queen’s University Belfast has found that students in Wales and Northern Ireland want more choice and fairness when it comes to their GCSE experience, including the subject selection process and the pressure to take on particular…

Dr Rhian Barrance argued that many schoolchildren today believe climate change and poverty are just as much a threat as terrorism. A link to the article, published by The Conversation, can be found below. https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-poverty-are-as-much-of-a-threat-as-terrorism-for-many-young-people-74218