Welsh language in higher education: September 2021 to August 2022

Main points

• The overall number of students studying some credits in Welsh in 2021/22 remained at a similar level to  2020/21 (7,215 enrolments in 2021/22). Enrolments with some teaching through Welsh as a proportion of all enrolments also remained at a similar level to last year (5% of all enrolments).
• Education and teaching modules had the highest number of students studying some credits in Welsh (1,440), accounting for 21% of students studying through Welsh-medium.
• Less than a third of students who were known to be fluent in Welsh studied in Welsh medium. Of those who did study in Welsh medium, 69% studied at least 40 credits in Welsh.
• The number of academic staff at Welsh higher education institutions (excluding the Open university) known to be teaching through the medium of Welsh decreased by 7% from 575 in 2020/21 to 535 in 2021/22.
• Less than half of the academic staff at Welsh higher education institutions (excluding the Open university) who were known to able to teach in Welsh were providing some teaching in Welsh in 2021/22.

(r) Revised on 22 January 2024. An error was identified in table E.2 of the ‘Welsh language in higher education: September 2021 to August 2022’. Figures in the ‘Teaching in Welsh’ column of Table E.2 were incorrect, and subsequent calculations in the accompanying commentary for Table E.2 were incorrect. No other areas of the bulletin or StatsWales cubes were affected by this error.