Welsh medium education

Education delivered through the medium of the Welsh language is known as Welsh medium education (Welsh: Addysg Gyfrwng Cymraeg).

Welsh medium education should be distinguished from the teaching of the Welsh language itself as an academic subject. Welsh as a subject is taught as a first language in Welsh medium schools. In English medium schools it is taught as a second language and became compulsory for all pupils in Wales at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 (up to age 14) in 1990. In 1999, it became a compulsory subject for Key Stage 4 pupils (GCSE (ages 15 and 16)). Provision of Welsh as a subject in independent (private) schools is less widespread — only a few provide it, and it is taught as a second language. There is no private designated Welsh-medium school in Wales, although one does exist in London, known as the London Welsh School.

Roughly a quarter of schoolchildren in Wales now receive their education through the medium of Welsh. Children wishing to join a Welsh medium school do not have to speak Welsh to attend if they are young enough to learn the language quickly. Ysgol Glan Clwyd is an example: although 70% of the pupils attending this school come from homes where English is the main or only language, 95% of pupils finish their education speaking Welsh as proficiently as a native speaker. Ysgol Glan Clwyd was the first Welsh-medium secondary (comprehensive) school, and opened in Rhyl in 1956.

Nursery Education

The Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin (Nursery Schools Movement) has established play groups and nurseries throughout Wales which allow children to learn Welsh through immersion. The spread of such nurseries has ensured strong demand from parents for Welsh medium primary schools. The success of MYM inspired the Ikastolak movement in the Basque Country and the Diwan movement in Brittany.

Primary Education

In the primary school sector, the numbers of children in Welsh-medium schools (or in the Welsh-medium stream of dual stream schools) has grown steadily in recent years.

School year	Total pupils	Welsh Medium pupils	Welsh Medium as % of total	% increase
2000/2001	262,751	49,422	18.81%
2001/2002	260,151	49,687	19.10%	+1.5%
2002/2003	256,690	50,756	19.77%	+3.5%
2003/2004	252,230	51,131	20.27%	+2.5%
2004/2005	248,328	52,792	21.26%	+4.9%
2005/2006	243,982	52,867	21.67%	+1.9%
2006/2007	240,621	54,099	22.48%	+3.7%
2007/2008	237,917	54,895	23.07%	+2.6%
2008/2009	258,314	59,989	23.22%	+0.7%
2009/2010	257,445	60,318	23.43%	+0.9%
2010/2011	259,189	61,073	23.56%	+0.6%
2011/2012	262,144	62,446	23.82%	+1.1%
2012/2013	264,186	63,192	23.92%	+0.4%
2013/2014	269,421	64,366	23.89%	-0.1%
2014/2015	273,400	65,460	23.94%	+0.2%

Information taken from Schools in Wales (accessed 23 July 2010) Update for last three years taken from School Census Results, 2012 (accessed 17 May 2013)

Secondary Education

The percentage of children in Welsh-medium secondary schools is slightly less than in primary schools, but has also grown, although it appears to have stabilised in the 2010s.

School year	Total pupils	Welsh Medium pupils	Welsh Medium as % of total	% increase
2000/2001	210,396	38,007	18.06%
2001/2002	212,024	38,817	18.31%	+1.4%
2002/2003	214,276	39,458	18.41%	+0.5%
2003/2004	215,609	40,169	18.63%	+1.2%
2004/2005	214,626	40,221	18.74%	+0.6%
2005/2006	213,045	40,828	19.16%	+2.2%
2006/2007	210,353	40,702	19.35%	+1.0%
2007/2008	206,936	40,756	19.69%	+1.8%
2008/2009	205,421	41,916	20.40%	+3.6%
2009/2010	203,907	43,432	21.30%	+4.4%
2010/2011	201,230	41,764	20.75%	-2.7%
2011/2012	198,015	41,262	20.84%	+0.4%
2012/2013	191,279	37,692	19.71%	-5.4%
2013/2014	186,427	37,400	20.01%	+1.5%
2014/2015	182,408	36,485	20.00%	0.00%

Information taken from Schools in Wales (accessed 23 July 2010) Update for last three years taken from School Census Results, 2012 (accessed 17 May 2013)

Effects

In 2013, reporting on comments by former Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, the BBC reported that the admissions officer for Oxford University had indicated that Welsh medium schools were especially reluctant to encourage pupils to seek places at top UK universities if this meant leaving Wales, which reportedly has contributed to a decrease in the number of Welsh pupils gaining places. As an example of the broader problem, which was also contributed to by other issues such as the impact of the Welsh Baccalaureate, and was not limited to Welsh medium schools, Murphy had indicated that "students from the south Wales valleys are five times less likely to apply to Oxford or Cambridge than students in some of the more affluent English counties".

See also

• Education in Wales
• Gaelscoil

External links

• Welsh Language Board
• Mudiad Meithrin