Cwricwlwm i Gymru 2022: A New Era for Computer Science in Schools in Wales?

We introduce the major changes to computer science (CS) education in Wales, UK, as part of compulsory school-level curriculum, qualifications and wider education system-level reforms. The new Curriculum for Wales (Cwricwlwm i Gymru) introduces significant changes to the discipline of CS, as part of a new interdisciplinary Science & Technology area. It also reinforces the societal importance of digital competence, increasing its prominence as a statutory cross-curricular skill alongside literacy and numeracy, for all learners aged 3-16. We introduce the high-level rationale and characteristics of this new bilingual statutory curriculum, as well as some of the challenges of its development over the past ten years. Finally, we consider what this means for school-level CS education in Wales as the new curriculum is enacted from September 2022 onwards.