Professional standards for assisting teaching, teaching and leadership: information document
The professional standards for assisting teaching, teaching and leadership apply to all practitioners who are working in an educational role in a school or setting in Wales.
Introduction
The system leadership standards apply to those who have a role that involves:
- supporting a school
- working collaboratively with one or more schools or settings
The revised professional standards came into effect for all relevant practitioners on 1 September 2026.
These revised standards build explicitly on the previous professional standards for teaching and leadership and the professional standards for assisting teaching that have been in place since 2017.
The revised professional standards retain the same 5 core standards:
- pedagogy
- innovation
- collaboration
- professional learning
- leadership
The categories of practitioner that the revised professional standards apply to has been expanded. The revised categories are now:
- assisting teaching
- teaching
- in-school leadership
- headship
- system leadership
The categories of in-school leadership and system leadership are both new. This reflects the critical role that practitioners in these categories have in supporting the development of their own school and the wider school system.
The professional standards for qualified teacher status (QTS) will be consulted on during the 2026 to 2027 academic year and will come into effect on 1 September 2027.
Background
The education landscape in Wales has changed since the implementation of the professional standards for teaching and leadership and for assisting teaching in 2017. The expectations on the school workforce have changed owing to:
- the impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic
- the ambitious reform agenda for education in Wales (including Curriculum for Wales and additional learning needs reform)
- the publication of Review of roles and responsibilities of education partners in Wales and delivery of school improvement arrangements in January 2024
- the publication of updated School improvement guidance in January 2026
- the publication of the Strategic education workforce plan for schools in March 2026
Over the past decade education and society have experienced considerable changes, prompting significant changes to the roles and responsibilities of:
- teaching assistants
- teachers
- in-school leaders
- headteachers
- system leaders
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) project conducted research in Wales during 2023 and 2024 on New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching. This report has provided important evidence in enabling Welsh Government to understand the changing nature of teaching, both within Wales and internationally, and the new priorities for the future workforce.
Purpose of the revised professional standards
The professional standards have been designed to have multiple purposes. However, their primary function is to support practitioners working in schools or settings in Wales to use the revised standards to focus on their own, individual improvement. The standards have been developed as a supportive framework to:
- underpin practice
- facilitate high-quality professional conversations between practitioners
- help practitioners to identify their strengths, professional learning priorities and next career steps
The standards are purposefully aligned with key national priorities, including:
- Curriculum for Wales
- ALN reform
- school improvement
- the schools as learning organisations (SLO) model
This alignment ensures that the professional standards:
- remain relevant and responsive to the evolving needs of learners, practitioners and the wider education system
- facilitate the ongoing development of a self-improving school system in Wales
The professional standards and the ways in which they are intended to be used have been designed with due regard for individual well-being and the need to maintain a manageable workload. The standards are intended to become an integral part of everyday school or setting life.
For teachers and assisting teachers the professional standards act as a tool for self-reflection, growth and effective classroom practice. They encourage:
- a deep understanding of pedagogy
- the development of effective learning experiences
- an adaptive approach that meets the needs of all learners within an evolving curriculum
For school or setting leaders, the professional standards reinforce the importance of vision-driven, inclusive and ethical leadership. They promote the development of professional learning cultures where staff at all levels are empowered to:
- lead innovation
- take ownership of change
- collaborate for school- or setting-wide and system-wide improvement
The professional standards support leaders in nurturing well-being and professional growth across their schools or settings.
For systems leaders, the professional standards support strong collaboration within and between schools or settings and other partners. They encourage:
- the rigorous sharing of expertise
- coherence across the system
- a culture of continuous professional learning, reflective practice and collective responsibility
For governors, the professional standards provide a valuable lens through which to understand and support the professional practices and development needs of school or setting leaders and their staff. Governing bodies can use the professional standards to support both their own school or setting and others across the system. This enables more informed, strategic governance that is:
- in tune with the pedagogical and leadership expectations placed on schools and settings
- aligned with national priorities
Structure of the revised professional standards
How to use the professional standards
The 5 professional standards are supported by a set of key descriptors that summarise how each standard can be demonstrated in practice. These are informed by the overarching context set out by the professional commitments.
Each descriptor is matched with reflective questions designed to provoke professional conversations between colleagues. This encourages practitioners to critically evaluate their effectiveness in that particular area of work. These questions are categorised according to different professional roles:
- assisting teaching
- teaching
- in-school leadership
- headship
- system leadership
This structure allows individuals to engage with the descriptors in ways that are relevant to their roles and responsibilities, leading to positive and sustained improvements in professional practice.
The descriptors are not intended to be used in their entirety. They serve as prompts to initiate productive, focused conversations. The questions are conversation starters, tools to stimulate insight and critical thinking about professional practice.
Through selectively engaging with these descriptors and questions, individuals and teams can focus discussions on areas most relevant to their current practice and development needs. These discussions should be tailored to reflect individual roles and responsibilities. The professional standards can be used:
- by individuals for self-reflection
- by colleagues to support one another
- collaboratively among practitioners working to develop shared understanding and improvement, including collaboration across schools and settings
This flexible approach supports professional growth and helps embed the professional standards into everyday practices.
The descriptors are not meant to be read or used as a checklist, scorecard or spreadsheet. They should never be ranked.
Many descriptors are linked both within a single standard and across the other 5 professional standards. This design gives individuals the opportunity to operate at different levels in various contexts, depending on their roles and experience. The professional standards are intended to support professional development and reflective practice by enabling individuals to engage with and explore them in ways that are responsive to their own professional context, needs and ambitions.
Practitioners should embrace this complexity and recognise that they work fluidly across different areas, adapting their practices to a variety of situations.
In all schools and settings, conversations about pedagogy should be:
- ongoing
- organic
- woven into everyday school life
These discussions naturally shift between professional learning, innovation and aspects of leadership all within the spirit of collaboration.
These conversations:
- reflect a shared commitment to improving professional practice for the benefit of all learners by continuously seeking to become the most effective practitioners
- can be both informal and formal, with the formal aspects covered by the professional development review process
Schools and settings should use the professional standards imaginatively. For instance, a whole staff or department could use the descriptors in the innovation standard to explore the effectiveness of their team’s approach to innovation. Similarly, a team could decide to focus on a small number of descriptors from a particular standard and focus on improving that area over the course of a term, collectively evaluating their work and sharing examples of best practice. Two schools or settings working together could also agree to explore 5 selected descriptors each and compare their findings. Alternatively, a governing body could ask to discuss examples of practice related to selected descriptors that are particularly relevant to their school’s or setting’s priorities.
Although it is not mandatory, keeping a record of these conversations may prove useful for later reflection or to inform future actions, especially for individuals considering their own ongoing professional development. The professional learning passport (PLP) is a useful tool for practitioners to capture and share evidence of how they meet the professional standards. Uploading these examples contributes to a growing collection of exemplification materials that can support others in understanding and applying the professional standards in their own contexts.
Use of the professional standards in statutory contexts
The professional standards will also underpin:
- the award of qualified teacher status
- statutory induction for newly qualified teachers
- the award of the national professional qualification for headship
- the award of higher-level teaching assistant status
- the professional development review process
Professional development review
The requirements for the professional development review process are set out in The School Teacher Appraisal (Wales) Regulations 2011. The professional development review arrangements for practitioners in Wales are not changing. Although the professional standards support the review process, updates to the standards will not affect the current review guidance. The standards and the professional development review will continue to be separate processes.