The Learning Country - in effect the principality’s own White Paper - treads a very different line from England, rejecting privatisation and specialist schools. Wales, which has already dropped school league tables and proposes to scrap testing for seven-year-olds, is being described as “a teachers’ utopia”.

The Bill out later this year will cover both England and Wales but the Welsh can opt out of key elements such as allowing the private sector to run new schools.

The National Union of Teachers Cymru hailed “an excellent example of being different for the sake of being better”. Edwyn Williams, general secretary of UCAC, the union for Welsh teachers, said: “We are pleased to see the Assembly putting trust in teachers’ professionalism rather than depending on unnecessary testing.”

Both the National Assocation of Head Teachers Cymru and Secondary Heads Association Cymru welcome, in particular, the elimination of national key stage 1 tests and “the determination to retain the non-selective comprehensive system”.

The General Teaching Council for Wales believes the proposal to end testing at key stage 1 will have a good effect on teacher morale and teaching time.

Peter Griffin of Governors Wales welcomed most of the report and the proposal to abandon the idea of specialist schools but said: “Governors Wales is concerned about the changes to governors’ responsibilities. The head will have the power to dismiss a teacher rather than the governing body, seriously affecting the relationship between teachers and the head.”

One of the few dissenting voices was Tim Pearce of RhAG, the movement representing parents for Welsh-medium education. He said the paper did not go far enough to promote a bilingual Wales.