Kirsty Williams, Minister for Education
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Following publication of Aled Roberts’ Rapid Review Report in August 2017, an Advisory Board was set up in order to advise Welsh Government on plans to strengthen the planning infrastructure for Welsh-medium education.
The Board have now concluded their work and have presented a report to me outlining how they have responded to the recommendations of the Rapid Review and the changes needed to improve the process. The report also identifies areas where future work is needed.
I am grateful to the Board for their work and I would also like to thank all stakeholders for participating in the process. I am certain that the proposed amended regulations which will be subject to a public consultation process in May, will improve Welsh-medium Education Planning.
During the Advisory Board’s work it became clear that there was a need to take a fresh look at the way schools are categorised according to their linguistic nature and language provision as it has not been looked at for over 10 years. It was agreed that this should be done in the context of the new curriculum.
As a result I have asked Meirion Prys Jones to lead a research project to review the current definitions and categories of schools in Wales according to their linguistic nature and language provision so that this will further support the planning of Welsh-medium and bilingual provision.
We therefore propose to consult on a new approach to categorisation in the autumn, and a final proposal presented by December 2019 in time to support the commencement of consultations on the new WESPs.
I would like to thank Aled Roberts for his guidance and would like to thank the Board for their commitment and professionalism in advising on the changes required and next steps. I would also like to thank Dylan Foster Evans for being so ready to chair the Board in Aled’s absence.
The recommendations of the Welsh in Education Strategic Advisory Board can be found at: