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Welsh Government
Data Provider: Welsh Government Ability to speak Welsh, as assessed by parents, of pupils aged 5 and over in primary, middle and secondary schools by local authority, region and category

The data mainly represents parents perceptions of their children’s fluency and will not necessarily be the same as the ability shown by the pupil in their school work.

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Year[Filtered]
Measure1
[Collapse]Category[Filter]
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Category 1
[Collapse]LARegion[Filter]
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LARegion 1
[Collapse]TotalClick here to sortTotal
Click here to sortFluent in WelshClick here to sortCan speak Welsh but not fluentlyClick here to sortCannot speak Welsh/Information not obtained
[Collapse]North Wales221,421348,981391,252961,654
North WalesIsle of Anglesey42,17634,73017,15694,062
Gwynedd105,72141,29916,882163,902
Conwy19,57660,95671,897152,429
Denbighshire27,54964,02160,197151,767
Flintshire10,91183,043128,700222,654
Wrexham15,48864,93296,420176,840
[Collapse]South West and Mid Wales235,444359,323633,7681,228,535
South West and Mid WalesPowys17,93384,45373,096175,482
Ceredigion41,52236,41917,07395,014
Pembrokeshire20,61157,79488,445166,850
Carmarthenshire97,74192,36470,114260,219
Swansea30,56856,564246,739333,871
Neath Port Talbot27,06931,729138,301197,099
[Collapse]Central South Wales155,930253,147975,7591,384,836
Central South WalesBridgend13,07336,266163,461212,800
Vale of Glamorgan23,04167,046121,236211,323
Rhondda Cynon Taf60,19063,772242,958366,920
Merthyr Tydfil5,32014,85764,16284,339
Cardiff54,30671,206383,942509,454
[Collapse]South East Wales58,831403,267402,547864,645
South East WalesCaerphilly36,383111,831116,964265,178
Blaenau Gwent1,02935,24753,63589,911
Torfaen12,96271,56159,645144,168
Monmouthshire1,83676,09838,763116,697
Newport6,621108,530133,540248,691
[Collapse]WalesWales671,6261,364,7182,403,3264,439,670

Metadata

Title

Ability to speak Welsh, as assessed by parents, of pupils aged 5 and over in primary, middle and secondary schools by local authority, region and category

Last update

23/07/2025 23/07/2025

Next update

July 2026 (provisional)

Publishing organisation

Welsh Government

Source 1

Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC), Welsh Government

Contact email

school.stats@gov.wales

Designation

National Statistics

Lowest level of geographical disaggregation

Local authorities

Geographical coverage

Wales

Languages covered

English and Welsh

Data licensing

You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence

General description

The data mainly represents parents perceptions of their children’s fluency and will not necessarily be the same as the ability shown by the pupil in their school work.

Data collection and calculation

Schools’ data are derived from the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) returns and STATS 1 returns supplied by schools open on Census day in January each year. The returns are authorised by headteachers and validated by Local Authorities.

Frequency of publication

Annual

Data reference periods

From 2003/04 or more recently if the data item is not available for earlier years.

Rounding applied

None.

Statistical quality

School Census returns are authorised by headteachers and validated by Local Authorities.

Whilst most of the usual data validation processes on the 2020 school census data have taken place, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the data did not undergo the usual final validation process. As part of the Welsh Local Government Finance Settlement, the data is usually returned to local authorities for final validation. Typically, overall numbers of pupils and teachers will not change significantly during this period, with the most likely change being in the characteristics of the pupils themselves e.g. free school meal entitlement. Users should therefore be more cautious when comparing data on characteristics of pupils and staff over time, in particular where small cohorts are involved.