Highly Able Learners and their Education:Guide

National policy in the UK and Ireland for highly able learners

Each of the jurisdictions that make up the United Kingdom differ in their policies for the more able.

Wales

In Wales the term ‘more able and talented’ is commonly used to describe learners who require enriched and extended opportunities to develop their abilities in one or more domains.  There have been many initiatives over the years intended to encourage schools to recognise more able learners and to support them in making appropriate provision for them. Meeting the Challenge: Quality Standards in Education for MAT Pupils (Circular 006/2008, May 2008), was seminal in providing a foundation for such developments, with the intention of supporting schools and local authorities in meeting the needs of more able and talented pupils, to develop a supportive ethos to meet the needs of all students regardless of emotional, social, linguistic, cultural, physical or intellectual differences.

Estyn, the Welsh Inspectorate, was also instrumental in keeping more able and talented on the agenda, both through its inspection framework and its research and publications.

Since 2022 a new Curriculum for Wales has been in operation in Wales. The new curriculum does not address ‘more able and talented’ as a specific group but the vision and ambition behind the new curriculum is intended to be wholly inclusive of all learners. The ‘principles of progression’ for example are intended to be a continuum and allow children to progress in line with their ability – without the boundaries which can suppress progress. Achievement outcomes are not tied into the traditional key phases. Enrichment and experiences which are an integral part of the new curriculum are meant to allow learners to have a greater voice in how they design, guide, investigate and lead their own learning: a tantalising thought for more able learners. Further detailed information about the curriculum itself is available here.

In addition to the new curriculum there is a national SEREN programme funded by Welsh Government.  The initiative is ‘dedicated to helping Wales’ brightest state educated learners achieve their full academic potential and support their education pathway into leading universities in Wales, the UK, and overseas.’ It is a collaboration between the Welsh Government, schools, colleges, leading universities, Seren Graduates, local authorities, education partners and third sector organisations to provide extensive national and regional activities. Support includes subject-specific masterclasses to stretch and challenge, workshops, tutorials, study guides, higher education advice and guidance, and mentoring.

Scotland

Staff in Scottish schools are expected to support learners in a way that takes account of wellbeing, inclusion, equity and fairness (Education Scotland, online). This has become known as Universal Support and should be available for every Scottish student. Legislative and curricular framework in Scotland provides a strong structure for meeting the needs of highly able learners. Alongside this, the staged intervention process adopted in Education Authorities allows schools to consider the needs of this group of learners in the same way as any other group of pupils requiring additional support. For more information see the We count too document. 

There is no statutory definition or single term to describe “particularly able or talented” students in Scotland. Scotland’s National Improvement Hub describes “highly able learners” as those who are working, or have the potential to work, ahead of other learners their own age. They may be working, or have potential to work, at the higher level across the whole curriculum or in one or more curricular area.

Legislation places the education of able pupils into the special education arena. Non-statutory guidelines consistent with the aims and objectives of Curriculum for Excellence are available from the Scottish Network for Able Pupils. The term 'highly able' is adopted referring to learners who are working ahead of their age peers, and to students who have the potential to work ahead of their age peers. Scotland has also established six national centres of excellence, located in comprehensive schools, which enable talented students to maximise their potential whilst receiving additional specialist study in music, dance or sport.

For further information visit Education Scotland. 

Northern Ireland

The country defines learning for students of high ability in the following terms:

'Gifted and talented' describes children with the ability or potential to develop significantly ahead of their peers

'Gifted' learners are those with abilities in one or more academic subjects, such as maths or English

'Talented' learners are those who have practical skills in areas such as sport, music, design or creative and performing arts.  

In Northern Ireland, the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) uses the term ‘gifted and talented’ to describe learners who are achieving, or who have the potential to achieve, a level substantially beyond the rest of their peer group in their particular school. Those learners who demonstrate or have the potential to demonstrate extremely high levels of ability, compared to their peers across the entire population, are referred to as Exceptionally Able. Non-statutory guidelines are provided for teachers to support the teaching and learning of gifted learners.

Schools themselves have responsibility to meet the educational needs of all their pupils, and teachers set tasks that take account of the varying abilities of children. Guidance was published by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) to support the identification and teaching of gifted and talented learners. This is no longer on the CCEA’s website, but an archived version can be found at CCEA, Gifted and Talented.

The CCEA’s current curriculum guidance for pre-school education states that, “when planning, staff should also take account of any gifted children”. The NI Executive currently has a range of programmes designed to support children from deprived backgrounds to reach their full potential.

See Every child deserves a real chance in life: A renewed government focus on solving educational underachievement in Northern Ireland?

Ireland/Eire

In Ireland, very few schools have any direct policy relating to very able children, and under the existing system, there is no requirement for them to make special provision for such students. The only provision for these students comes in the form of out-of-school programmes. There is no specific teacher training for teachers of high-ability students in the form of a specialized postgraduate qualification, and it is often a neglected area in terms of general teacher training programmes. High ability must be recognized as a special need within the Irish education system for this to change. It is important that these students are provided the services they need within and outside of school (O’Reilly, 2012). There has been little attention paid to the provision of special services for students with gifts and talents. With its historical emphasis on creating similar outcomes for all Irish students (O’Reilly, 2013), educators in Ireland are likely to have had little or no experience with providing special services to gifted students, including curriculum differentiation and acceleration. The Department of Education and Science has recommended differentiation for students with special educational needs (SEN), but the emphasis has been on serving the needs of students who cannot achieve without support, not those who are exceptionally able.

England

In England, the term 'gifted and talented' was used, and yet the term “high ability” is seen to be more common parlance and the one adopted in the writing of this Guide. The definition provided is ‘children and young people with one or more abilities developed significantly ahead of their year group or with the potential to develop these abilities.’ There is no agreed national definition or national support programme since the Young Gifted and Talented Programme closed in 2010. The idea of specialist knowledge was taken forward by the Government by the establishment of the specialist schools programme (SSP), first launched as the Technology Colleges programme and also known as the specialist schools initiative in the mid-1990s, but which was later dissolved. Department for Education (DfE) scholarships for students who are promising to become specialists in dance or music up to the age of 19 exists, offering help with fees at schools and Centres for Advanced Training (CATs) in England.

Currently, the school Inspections body Ofsted, evaluates whether schools “nurture, develop and stretch pupils’ talents and interests”. In two evaluative inspection reports, published in 2013 and 2015, Ofsted was critical of the support provided to “more able” pupils, and called upon schools to improve their curricula, the transition between primary and secondary school, and their work with families to support higher aspirations. Ofsted’s School Inspection Handbook (May 2019) does not include explicit reference to “most able” students. It states “outstanding” and “good” schools should promote the personal development of all students and provide opportunities to “nurture, develop and stretch pupils’ talents and interests.”

The Handbook also states schools should ensure “high academic/vocational/technical ambition for all students.

The DfE states that the introduction of Grade 9 at GCSE and Progress 8 as an accountability measure allows schools to be held to account in how well they support “more able” students. The DfE says Pupil Premium funds allow schools to provide support to highly able students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Opportunity Areas scheme also seeks to raise standards and support available.

Reports by the Sutton Trust and Potential Plus UK have argued that Ofsted should strengthen its inspection of provision for disadvantaged highly able students and called upon the DfE to invest in programme to evaluate the effectiveness of the support provided (Loft & Danechi, 2020).

A detailed account of the above is available here.

References

Loft, P. & Danechi, S. (2020) Support for more able and talented children in schools (UK). House of Commons Library Briefing Paper, Number 9065. HOC.

O’Reilly, C. (2012) Gifted Education in Ireland. Journal for the Education of the Gifted 36(1). pp.97–118