English: Thank you for the statement. I want to take the opportunity this afternoon to mention Louise Casella's review, which was commissioned by you following the exams fiasco of last year. At last, on Friday afternoon the independent review of the summer 2020 arrangements for the awarding of grades and considerations for the summer of 2021 was published; it's a lengthy title. This was the final version and it hasn't had a great deal of coverage, so I'm going to take this opportunity to set out some of the main conclusions and to put them on the record today, because I do believe that they are exceptionally important. I'm very grateful to Louise Casella and her team for the thorough work that they undertook and for their stark conclusions. The Welsh Government and the education system as a whole need to pay close attention to this review. The report notes that a number of mistakes were made that could have been avoided, and that was by the WJEC and Qualifications Wales. The errors included failing to anticipate the scale of the issues that would arise, and the risk of inequality for so many individual learners as a result of the lack of action by those two bodies. Specifically in terms of moderation, the report states this: 'Qualifications Wales and WJEC did consider whether some form of external moderation of the CAGs could be undertaken prior to final submission, but this option was dismissed with the assumptions underpinning that decision not being fully tested. The right for WJEC to go back to centres submitting CAGs that appeared out of line with expectation was also reserved, and expected by centres, but this did not take place. Without external moderation of the decisions reached in assigning CAGs and rank orders, and without training of assessors to ensure the avoidance of any bias in arriving at CAGs, total reliance was being placed on the statistical standardisation processes to ensure fairness between centres.' And I have quoted there from the report itself, and in weighing up what I have just described, the review does come to this conclusion, and I quote once again, 'This is akin to a failure of leadership and governance in relation to the arrangements for deciding on grades during the summer of 2020.' Now, this is a damning verdict but, again, it's the same people who are in charge in both of these bodies, and they continue to have great influence on the process since the fiasco in 2020, which created so much concern to so many young people. In conclusion, I would like to ask you, Minister, therefore, whether you have considered dismissing some of the people who run the WJEC and Qualifications Wales in light of the findings of the damning Casella report, or have you at least considered a further review of your own to see whether steps of this kind need to be taken? And if you're not considering a further review in order to decide whether further action is required, will you explain why?
Welsh: Diolch am y datganiad. Dwi am gymryd y cyfle y pnawn yma i sôn am adolygiad Louise Casella a gafodd ei gomisiynu gennych chi yn dilyn ffiasgo arholiadau y llynedd. O'r diwedd, pnawn dydd Gwener fe gyhoeddwyd adolygiad annibynnol o drefniadau haf 2020 ar gyfer dyfarnu graddau ac ystyriaethau ar gyfer haf 2021, teitl hir. Y fersiwn terfynol oedd hwn a dydy o ddim wedi cael llawer o sylw, felly dwi am gymryd y cyfle i roi rhai o'r prif gasgliadau ar y record heddiw, oherwydd dwi yn teimlo eu bod nhw yn hynod o bwysig. Dwi'n hynod ddiolchgar i Louise Casella a'r tîm am eu gwaith trwyadl ac am eu casgliadau di-flewyn-ar-dafod. Mae angen i Lywodraeth Cymru a'r gyfundrefn addysg drwyddi draw dalu sylw manwl i'r adolygiad. Mae'r adroddiad yn nodi fod nifer o gamgymeriadau wedi cael eu gwneud a allai fod wedi cael eu hosgoi, a hynny gan Gyd-bwyllgor Addysg Cymru a Cymwysterau Cymru. Roedd y camgymeriadau yn cynnwys methu rhagweld graddfa'r materion a fyddai'n codi, a'r risg o anghydraddoldeb i gymaint o ddysgwyr unigol o ganlyniad i'r diffyg gweithredu gan y ddau gorff. Yn benodol o ran cymedroli, mae'r adroddiad yn dweud hyn: 'Roedd Cymwysterau Cymru a CBAC wedi ystyried a ellid ymgymryd â rhyw fath o waith cymedroli graddau asesu canolfannau yn allanol cyn iddynt gael eu cyflwyno fel rhai terfynol, ond cafodd yr opsiwn hwn ei ddiystyru heb brofi'r rhagdybiaethau a ategodd y penderfyniad hwnnw yn llawn. Disgwyliodd canolfannau y byddai CBAC yn dychwelyd i ganolfannau a gyflwynodd raddau asesu canolfannau nad oeddent yn ymddangos eu bod yn cydfynd â'r disgwyl, gan barchu ei hawl i wneud hyn, ond ni ddigwyddodd hynny. Yn absenoldeb cymedroli allanol o ran y penderfyniadau a wnaed wrth bennu graddau asesu canolfannauac yn absenoldeb hyfforddi aseswyr er mwyn osgoi unrhyw duedd wrth bennu graddau asesu canolfannau, dibynnwyd yn llwyr ar y prosesau safoni ystadegol i sicrhau tegwch rhwng canolfannau.' Dwi wedi dyfynnu yn fanna o'r adroddiad ei hun, ac wrth bwyso a mesur yr hyn dwi newydd ddisgrifio, mae'r adolygiad yn dod i'r penderfyniad yma, a dwi'n dyfynnu eto, 'Mae hyn yn gyfystyr â methiant mewn arweinyddiaeth a llywodraethu mewn perthynas â'r trefniadau ar gyfer dyfarnu graddau yn ystod haf 2020.' Mae hyn yn ddamniol ond, eto, yr un bobl sydd wrth y llyw yn y ddau gorff yma, ac yn parhau i gael cryn ddylanwad ar y broses ers y ffiasgo yn 2020 wnaeth greu gymaint o bryder i gymaint o bobl ifanc. Hoffwn i, i gloi, ofyn i chi felly, Weinidog, a ydych chi wedi ystyried diswyddo rhai o'r bobl sydd yn rhedeg CBAC a Chymwysterau Cymru yn sgil canfyddiadau damniol adolygiad Casella, neu, o leiaf, ydych chi'n ystyried cynnal adolygiad pellach eich hun i weld a oes angen cymryd camau o'r math? Ac os nad ydych chi'n ystyried adolygiad pellach er mwyn canfod a oes angen gweithredu pellach, a wnewch chi egluro pam?