What consideration has the Minister given to whether the Welsh Government's benchmark of a third of a university courses being available to study through the medium of Welsh is satisfactory, or if it should it be higher?
Prior to the establishment of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol in 2011 the number of students studying ‘some’ element of their course in Welsh was monitored.
Following discussions at the establishment of the Coleg Cymraeg and the subsequent publication of the Coleg’s first academic plan, the bar was raised from ‘some’ element in Welsh to ‘at least’ one third of each academic year in Welsh (40 credits).
Since 2011, there has been a significant growth (17% increase) in the number of students studying at least 40 credits in Welsh in each academic year as well as in the number and range of subjects where students can study at least a third of their course in Welsh. There has also been a 66% increase in the number of students studying between 5 and 40 credits in Welsh. These figures relate to the period from 2011/12 to 2020/2021.
The Coleg Cymraeg and Welsh Government continue to support universities to further develop their Welsh Medium offer so that more students can study through the medium of Welsh. For 2023/24 the Coleg expects to allocate a range of subject and development grants with targets for staffing and student numbers agreed with individual institutions.