Welsh-medium education

Welsh-medium education (Welsh: Addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg) is a form of education in Wales in which pupils are taught primarily through the medium of Welsh.

The aim of Welsh-medium education is to achieve fluency in both Welsh and English. All children over the age of seven receive some of their instruction in English. In January 2025, there were 93,377 pupils (21%) being educated in Welsh medium schools, and 23,807 pupils (5%) in dual language schools (Welsh and English). In addition in January 2025, there were 405 Welsh medium schools, and 66 dual language schools.

There is mixed evidence that children in Welsh-medium education tend to perform worse academically than others, even though students who leave school with Welsh proficiency go on to earn more on average than their monolingual peers in Wales. However, other data shows that Welsh-medium schools outperform English-medium schools at GCSE maths and English A*-C and at Level 2 inclusive. A smaller proportion of people in higher levels of education study partially or fully through the medium of Welsh.

Formal Welsh-medium education began in Wales in 1939, and the first Welsh-medium secondary education began in 1962. In the following decades the provision was greatly expanded. The Welsh Government target is for 30% of pupils to be taught in this manner by 2031 and 40% by 2050.

In May 2025, The Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill was passed, with the Bill outlining how to Welsh Government will go about creating one million Welsh speakers, school categorisation, and the level of standards expected from all pupils by the end of school-leaving age.