The BBC’s report on the PISA 2025 findings makes uncomfortable reading for Wales. England is now in the international top ten for reading, mathematics and science, while Wales remains behind the other UK nations. The Welsh national report adds some necessary context. Mathematics performance has fallen significantly since 2022, while reading and science have remained broadly stable.

PISA is one assessment of how 15-year-olds apply their knowledge to real-life problems. It cannot explain every cause or tell us everything about education in Wales. Even so, the findings deserve a serious response.

That response cannot rest on teachers and schools alone. Nor should the results be used to blame young people or their families. A teenager’s relationship with reading and learning is formed over many years and shaped by life at home, experiences in the community and the confidence of the adults around them.

For an adult, literacy may mean understanding a health letter, completing an online application, checking a payslip or managing household bills. Numeracy and digital skills carry the same everyday importance. Difficulty with any of them can narrow choices and make ordinary tasks stressful. Greater confidence can change how someone approaches work, family life and their place in the community.

This is where adult and family learning belongs in the discussion. When parents and carers develop their own skills, they are often better placed to understand what their children are learning and to support them at home. Children also see that learning is something adults do, rather than something confined to a particular age.

Community provision reaches people in places they already know and trust. A class in a community centre, library or local workplace can feel more approachable than returning to a formal education setting, particularly for someone whose earlier experience of education was difficult.

At Adult Learning Wales, we know that people enter and return to learning for many different reasons. Essential skills or family learning may be a first step. From there, learners can move into qualifications, further study or employment. Our wider offer also includes occupational and professional learning. Adult education is not a single course or level, and progress is rarely a straight line.

Wales’s Community Focused Schools approach already recognises that schools, families and communities influence one another. It includes family engagement and opportunities for adult learning. Adult learning providers should now be connected more consistently to that work, rather than relying on individual relationships or short-term projects.

I would like to see adult and family learning named explicitly in Wales’s response to PISA. That recognition needs sustained investment behind it, so provision is available locally and for long enough to build trust. If we want stronger outcomes for young people, we must take seriously the learning needs of the adults alongside them.

Kathryn Robson, Chief Executive