Welsh-medium education
Education delivered through the medium of the Welsh language is known as Welsh-medium education.
Welsh-medium education should be distinguished from the teaching of the Welsh language itself as an academic subject.
Sixteen per cent of pupils in Wales attend Welsh-medium schools, with a further 10 per cent attending schools that are bilingual, dual-medium, or in English with significant Welsh provision. The Welsh Government's current target is to increase the proportion of each school year group receiving Welsh-medium education to 30 per cent by 2031, and then 40 per cent by 2050.
Ysgol Glan Clwyd was the first Welsh-medium secondary school, and opened in Rhyl in 1956. There are no private Welsh-medium schools in Wales, although there is one in London, the London Welsh School.
Nursery education
Mudiad Meithrin, formerly Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin has established play groups and nurseries throughout Wales which allow children to learn Welsh through immersion. It is the main Welsh-medium education and care provider in Wales for the early years. There were 12,773 children in cylchoedd meithrin and day nurseries in 2018-2019.The spread of such nurseries has ensured strong demand from parents for Welsh-medium primary schools. The success of Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin 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 has grown steadily in recent years. Welsh Government statistics show that in 2014, 22.2 per cent of 7 year old learners were assessed through the medium of Welsh first language| School year | Total pupils | Welsh-Medium pupils | Welsh-Medium as % of total | % change |
| 2000/2001 | 262,751 | 49,422 | 18.81% | |
| 2001/2002 | 260,151 | 49,687 | 19.10% | |
| 2002/2003 | 256,690 | 50,756 | 19.77% | |
| 2003/2004 | 252,230 | 51,131 | 20.27% | |
| 2004/2005 | 248,328 | 52,792 | 21.26% | |
| 2005/2006 | 243,982 | 52,867 | 21.67% | |
| 2006/2007 | 240,621 | 54,099 | 22.48% | |
| 2007/2008 | 237,917 | 54,895 | 23.07% | |
| 2008/2009 | 258,314 | 59,989 | 23.22% | |
| 2009/2010 | 257,445 | 60,318 | 23.43% | |
| 2010/2011 | 259,189 | 61,073 | 23.56% | |
| 2011/2012 | 262,144 | 62,446 | 23.82% | |
| 2012/2013 | 264,186 | 63,192 | 23.92% | |
| 2013/2014 | 269,421 | 64,366 | 23.89% | |
| 2014/2015 | 273,400 | 65,460 | 23.94% | |
| 2015/2016 | 276,954 | 66,101 | 23.86% | |
| 2016/2017 | 276,940 | 66,612 | 24.05% | |
| 2017/2018 | 277,095 | 66,189 | 23.89% | |
| 2018/2019 | 274,799 | 65,800 | 23.94% | |
| 2019/2020 | 271,323 | 65,142 | 23.64% |
Information taken from
Update for last three years taken from
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. Including Middle School pupils from 2012/2013.| School year | Total pupils | Welsh-Medium pupils | Welsh-Medium as % of total | % change |
| 2000/2001 | 210,396 | 38,007 | 18.06% | |
| 2001/2002 | 212,024 | 38,817 | 18.31% | |
| 2002/2003 | 214,276 | 39,458 | 18.41% | |
| 2003/2004 | 215,609 | 40,169 | 18.63% | |
| 2004/2005 | 214,626 | 40,221 | 18.74% | |
| 2005/2006 | 213,045 | 40,828 | 19.16% | |
| 2006/2007 | 210,353 | 40,702 | 19.35% | |
| 2007/2008 | 206,936 | 40,756 | 19.69% | |
| 2008/2009 | 205,421 | 41,916 | 20.40% | |
| 2009/2010 | 203,907 | 43,432 | 21.30% | |
| 2010/2011 | 201,230 | 41,764 | 20.75% | |
| 2011/2012 | 198,015 | 41,262 | 20.84% | |
| 2012/2013 | 194,927 | 39,326 | 20.17% | |
| 2013/2014 | 189,969 | 38,977 | 20.52% | |
| 2014/2015 | 186,784 | 38,933 | 20.84% | |
| 2015/2016 | 184,040 | 38,858 | 21.11% | |
| 2016/2017 | 183,975 | 39,233 | 21.32% | |
| 2017/2018 | 184,371 | 40,285 | 21.85% | |
| 2018/2019 | 187,938 | 41,905 | 22.30% | |
| 2019/2020 | 192,017 | 43,496 | 22.63% |
Information taken from
Update for last three years taken from
Further education
During 2015/2016, 7.8 per cent of learning activities in the Further Education sector included some element of Welsh, with 0.29 per cent of activities offered through Welsh only. The subjects with the highest number of learning activities with some element of Welsh were Retail and Commercial Enterprise ; Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care and Business, Administration and Law.Higher education
In 2014/15, the number of higher education students with at least some teaching through the medium of Welsh reached an all-time high with 6,355 students, or 5.1 per cent of all students at Welsh universities. Of these 6,355 students, 53 per cent were taught entirely through the medium of Welsh and 47 per cent were taught part of their course in Welsh.The University of Wales, Trinity Saint David had both the highest number of students and the highest proportion of its students receiving at least some teaching through the medium of Welsh. Glyndŵr University had both the lowest number and proportion of its students receiving at least some teaching through the medium of Welsh.
9,930 university students in Wales were fluent Welsh speakers in 2017/2018, with a further 10,190 speakers recording themselves as Welsh speakers but not fluent. Of all Universities in Wales, Cardiff University had the highest number of fluent Welsh-speaking students, amounting to 1,670 students. According to the latest data collected in 2017/2018, Bangor University had the highest percentage of fluent Welsh-speaking students of all Universities in Wales. This constituted to 40% of all the students in the University.