Description: In terms of educational policy, Wales has historically been at one with England, the former being seen and in some respects seeing itself more as a region of the latter than as a separate country. This reality and these perceptions are changing. Since political devolution in 1999, the Welsh Assembly Government has marked out its divergence from England in policy terms most notably in education. In developing its new policy agenda, the Welsh Assembly Government has faced a dilemma. As in England, it has asserted the importance of evidence-informed policy. However, ministers, unlike their English counterparts, have very limited resources to deploy, either to commission research or to undertake it in-house. Moreover, they know that in the field of education, current research capacity is Wales is severely limited. In face of this dilemma, the Minister of Education and Life Long Learning in Wales has employed a distinctive strategy for developing evidence-informed policy, establishing a series of 'Reviews', each concerned with a key area of educational policy. This paper focuses on one - 'The Review of Initial Teacher Training Provision in Wales' ( Furlong et al. 2006) - led by the authors. The Review was set a number of challenging issues to consider, including: how to bring the supply and demand for teachers more closely in line; how provision might need to be adjusted in light of any recommended changes in supply; how to develop more effective links between initial training and induction; how to improve further the quality of provision; and how the governance and strategic mangement of the system might be improved. Methodology: Evidence was gathered from a wide range of sources and in a variety of ways, and included: " Oral evidence from more than 40 organization s from Wales and beyond " Oral or written evidence from more than 160 individuals " Interviews with stakeholders at each of the major providers in Wales during visits by members of the Review team " Two full day seminars with representatives of the providers " An extensive range of published and unpublished literature In the ways in which it gathered evidence and consulted stakeholders, the Review set itself the additional task of facilitating change by trying to develop a consensus about the need for, and direction of, change. Conclusions: The aim of this paper is not to report in detail the Review's recommendations ( available at http://learning.wales.gov.uk/pdfs/itt-provision-wales-e.pdf- ). Rather it is to consider the review process as well as the recommendations and the response to them, in relation to the issues that emerge when a relatively small country is engaged in developing a distinctive identity in a key area of educational policy, in this case, initial teacher training. In particular we focus on: 1. The complexities we experienced in conducting the Review in a national educational community where many people are known to each other and there are intricate networks of personal and professional relationships. 2. The similarities and the differences in the processes we undertook compared with those associated with more conventional , policy oriented research. 3. The potential opportunites and their associated risks for a small country when considering significant policy changes to meet its distinctive needs and shape its identity.