When we heard that Finola Wilson from our friends at Impact Wales had published a book, our first reaction (after congratulations!) was to realise how ridiculously long it’s been since we last spoke to our fellow Welsh education podcasters. Long-time listeners will know that we visited their HQ in Caerphilly (and Tom has particularly fond memories of hauling the sound equipment through an incredible downpour of rain) just before Covid to talk about the sterling work that they do in schools.

Now, Finola has made a trip in the opposite direction to visit our studio and talk about how we support disadvantaged pupils to achieve the best they can. As she explains, disadvantage covers so much more than poverty (though this is an important angle, as several of our past episodes cover) and the keys to mitigating disadvantage lie not only with those in charge of strategy and policy, but with individual teachers in their classrooms.

In this extended interview, Finola gives us some golden bits of information from the book, as well as a few controversial opinions. Enjoy it!

Finola’s book is Closing the Disadvantage Gap in Schools: A Visual Workbook, and is out now, published by Routledge. You can find Finola and Jane on the web at impact.wales

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Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 21st May 2025