The Welsh language in education in the UK European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning hosted by WELSH The Welsh language in education in the UK | 2nd Edition | c/o Fryske Akademy Doelestrjitte 8 P.O. Box 54 NL-8900 AB Ljouwert/Leeuwarden The Netherlands T 0031 (0) 58 - 234 3027 W www.mercator-research.eu E [email protected] | Regional dossiers series | t ca r cum n n i- ual e : Available in this series: This document was published by the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism Albanian; the Albanian language in education in Italy and Language Learning with financial support from the Fryske Akademy and the Province Asturian; the Asturian language in education in Spain (2nd ed.) of Fryslân. Basque; the Basque language in education in France (2nd ed.) Basque; the Basque language in education in Spain (2nd ed.) Breton; the Breton language in education in France (2nd ed.) Catalan; the Catalan language in education in France Catalan; the Catalan language in education in Spain (2nd ed.) © Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism Cornish; the Cornish language in education in the UK and Language Learning, 2014 Corsican; the Corsican language in education in France (2nd ed.) Croatian; the Croatian language in education in Austria ISSN: 1570 – 1239 Frisian; the Frisian language in education in the Netherlands (4th ed.) 2nd edition Friulian; the Friulian language in education in Italy Gaelic; the Gaelic language in education in the UK The contents of this dossier may be reproduced in print, except for commercial purposes, Galician; the Galician language in education in Spain provided that the extract is proceeded by a complete reference to the Mercator European German; the German language in education in Alsace, France (2nd ed.) Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning. German; the German language in education in Belgium German; the German language in education in South Tyrol, Italy Hungarian; the Hungarian language in education in Slovakia This Regional dossier was originally compiled by Meirion Prys Jones of the Network to Hungarian; the Hungarian language in education in Slovenia Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD). Ceinwen Jones updated the dossier in 2014. Unless Irish; the Irish language in education in Northern Ireland (2nd ed.) otherwise stated academic data refer to the 2013/2014 school year. Irish; the Irish language in education in the Republic of Ireland Italian; the Italian language in education in Slovenia Kashubian; the Kashubian language in education in Poland Acknowledgements Ladin; the Ladin language in education in Italy The author wishes to express her gratitude to Awen Penri, Gari Lewis, John Lloyd and Latgalian; the Latgalian language in education in Latvia Dyfan Evans of the Welsh in Education Unit, Department for Education and Skills, Welsh Lithuanian; the Lithuanian language in education in Poland Government, for recent updates and statistics. Maltese; the Maltese language in education in Malta Meänkieli and Sweden Finnish; the Finnic languages in education in Sweden North-Frisian; the North Frisian language in education in Germany (2nd ed.) Contact information of the authors of Regional dossiers can be found in the Mercator Occitan; the Occitan language in education in France Database of Experts (www.mercator-research.eu). Polish; the Polish language in education in Lithuania Romani and Beash; the Romani and Beash languages in education in Hungary Sami; the Sami language in education in Sweden Scots; the Scots language in education in Scotland Serbian; the Serbian language in education in Hungary Slovak; the Slovak language in education in Hungary Slovene; the Slovene language in education in Austria (2nd ed.) Slovene; the Slovene language in education in Italy (2nd ed.) Sorbian; the Sorbian language in education in Germany Swedish; the Swedish language in education in Finland (2nd ed.) Turkish; the Turkish language in education in Greece From August 2012 onwards Ineke Rienks and Saskia Benedictus-van den Berg have Ukrainian and Ruthenian; the Ukrainian and Ruthenian language in education in Poland been responsible for the publication of the Mercator Regional dossiers series. Võro; the Võro language in education in Estonia Welsh; the Welsh language in education in the UK (2nd ed.) Contents Contents Glossary ..............................................................................2 Glossary 2 Foreword 3 Foreword ..............................................................................3 1 Introduction 5 2 Pre-school education 22 1 Introduction ...........................................................5 3 Primary education 26 4 Secondary education 30 2 Pre-school education ..........................................22 5 Vocational education 36 6 Higher education 40 3 Primary education ..............................................26 7 Adult education 48 8 Educational research 53 4 Secondary education ..........................................30 9 Prospects 55 10 Summary statistics 57 5 Vocational education ..........................................36 Endnotes 60 Education system in the United Kingdom – Wales 61 6 Higher education ................................................40 References and further reading 62 Addresses 67 7 Adult education ...................................................48 Other websites on minority languages 69 What can the Mercator Research Centre offer you? 70 8 Educational research ..........................................53 9 Prospects............................................................55 10 Summary statistics .............................................57 Endnotes ...............................................................................60 Education system in the United Kingdom – Wales .................61 References and further reading ..............................................62 Addresses ...............................................................................67 Other websites on minority languages ...................................69 What can the Mercator Research Centre offer you? ..............70 Education and lesser used languages Glossary Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol the National Welsh Language College in higher education Colegau Cymru/Colleges Wales the national organisation representing all FE colleges and institutions in Wales Comisiynydd y Gymraeg/Welsh Language Commissioner the office established by the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 CYDAG Cymdeithas Ysgolion Dros Addysg Gymraeg (Professional Asso- ciation of Welsh-medium Schools) FE Further Education GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education GNVQ General National Vocational Qualification HEI Higher Education Institution ITT Initial Teacher Training LAs local authorities – the term used to describe the 22 local 2 councils and county boroughs of Wales since 2010. LEAs local education authorities – local councils of counties and county boroughs in Wales that were responsible for education within their jurisdiction. Since 2010, the term in Wales has been replaced by the term ‘local authorities’ (LAs). MM Mudiad Meithrin (‘Nursery Movement’) – Welsh early years specialists, formerly known as Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin NVQ National Vocational Qualifications PGCE Postgraduate Certificate of Education QTS Qualified Teaching Status Welsh Assembly Government this title was replaced in 2011 with the title Llywodraeth Cymru (Welsh Government) WESP Welsh in Education Strategic Plans prepared by local authori- ties and submitted for approval by Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government WfA Welsh for Adults WJEC the main awarding organisation for examinations used in Wales, formerly known as the Welsh Joint Education Committee WLB Welsh Language Board (Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg), in existence from 1993 to 2012 The Welsh language in education in the UK Foreword background The Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning aims at the acquisition, circulation, and application of knowledge in the field of regional and minority language education. Regional or minority languages are languages that differ from the official language of the state where they are spoken and that are traditionally used within a given territory by nationals of that state form ing a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population. For several years an important means for the Mercator Research Centre to achieve the goal of knowledge acquisition and circulation has been the Regional dossiers series. The success of this series illustrates a need for documents stating briefly the most essential features of the education system of regions with an autochthonous lesser used lan guage. aim Regional dossiers aim at providing a concise description of and basic statistics on minority language education in a specific 3 region of Europe. Aspects that are addressed include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors, legal arrangements, and support structures, as well as quantitative aspects, such as the number of schools, teachers, pupils, and financial investments. This kind of information can serve several purposes and can be relevant for different target groups. target group Policymakers, researchers, teachers, students, and journal ists may use the information provided to assess develop ments in European minority language schooling. They can also use a Regional dossier as a first orientation towards further research or as a source of ideas for improving educational provisions in their own