General description

The National Survey for Wales is a face-to-face survey of people across Wales. Each year over 11,000 people aged 16 and over are asked for their opinions on a wide range of issues affecting them and their local area. Respondents are selected at random to ensure the results are representative.

The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales. The Act puts in place seven well-being goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. 46 national indicators were laid in March 2016 before the National Assembly and the National Survey for Wales will be the data source for fifteen of the national indicators: indicators 3, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 37 and 38. Some indicators will be updated annually and others less frequently depending on how fast-changing the results are likely to be. Slower-changing topics will not be included in the survey, and therefore not updated, every year.

For further information, please see Weblinks.

Data collection and calculation

Collection of the results:

Every year over 20,000 addresses are chosen at random from the Royal Mail’s Small User Postcode Address File. Interviewers visit each address and randomly select one adult (aged 16+) in the household, and carry out a face-to-face interview with them.

Not all questions are asked of all respondents. Some questions are not applicable to some respondents (e.g. they do not have children) and some questions are only asked of a random subsample of respondents because the results are only required at national level.

Like any figures based on a survey, these results are subject to margins of error. The margins of error (“confidence intervals”) are shown for each result. These give a range within which the true value is likely to fall.

Calculation of the indicators:
The results of the National Survey are weighted to compensate for unequal selection probabilities and differential non-response (i.e. to ensure that the age and sex distribution of the final dataset matches that of the Welsh population). Respondents who refused to answer a question or who responded ‘Don’t know’ are excluded from the results except where otherwise stated.

FG indicator 37 (Percentage of people who can speak Welsh)
The Census of Population is the main source of information for the percentage of people who can speak Welsh. Between Censuses the National Survey is used to monitor trends for adults.
The indicator is based on adults aged 16 and over who report that they can speak Welsh. The question allows people to answer yes, no, and also allows people to spontaneously report that they can’t speak Welsh but that they have some skills in the language. This monitoring indicator is based only on those who answer ‘yes’ to this question.

For further information, please see the statistical first release and bulletins for the relevant year. Please see the National indicators for Wales: Technical document for information relating to the national indicators. These can be found under Weblinks.

Frequency of publication

Annual

Data reference periods

Data is shown from 2012-13 onwards where available. There was no survey in 2015-16.

Users, uses and context

We have published reports on the key predictors for several Future Generations indicators based on National Survey results. The reports are available on our web pages and can help to identify actions that will improve progress against these indicators. Please see Weblinks.

The results will be of use to:
- Welsh Government policy teams
- Health Boards, Public Health Wales Observatory and NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS)
- Local Authorities
- Voluntary organisations
- Public Services’ communicators’ network CommsCymru
- Academics
- External organisations
- Individuals

Rounding applied

Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number.

Where survey results are not deemed sufficiently robust (i.e. less than 30 responses), values are suppressed. These are represented by “*” in the tables.

Revisions information

No scheduled revisions are planned. If revisions are made the revision process will be followed, please see Weblinks.

Title

National Survey Welsh Language Indicator

Last update

June 2019 June 2019

Next update

June 2020 (provisional)

Publishing organisation

Welsh Government

Source 1

National Survey for Wales, Welsh Government

Contact email

surveys@gov.wales

Designation

National Statistics

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

Statistical quality

A summary Quality Report is available, containing detailed information on the quality of the survey as well as a summary of the methods used to compile the results; please see Weblinks.

Weblinks

Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015: http://gov.wales/topics/people-and-communities/people/future-generations-act/
How do you measure a nation’s progress? - National Indicators: https://gweddill.gov.wales/topics/people-and-communities/people/future-generations-act/national-indicators/?lang=en

National Survey for Wales website: https://gov.wales/national-survey-wales
First releases (headline results):
2018-19: https://gov.wales/national-survey-wales-headline-results-april-2018-march-2019
2017-18: https://gov.wales/national-survey-wales-headline-results-april-2017-march-2018
2016-17: https://gov.wales/national-survey-wales-headline-results-april-2016-march-2017
2014-15: https://gov.wales/national-survey-wales-headline-results-april-2014-march-2015
Quality report: https://gov.wales/national-survey-wales-technical-information
Revisions, errors and postponements: https://gov.wales/statistics-and-research-statement-revisions-errors-and-postponements
Technical information: https://gov.wales/national-survey-wales-technical-information

Reports on the key predictors:
Who is more likely to be in material deprivation?, 2014-15: https://gov.wales/material-deprivation-national-survey-wales-april-2014-march-2015
Who is more likely to be satisfied with their job?, 2013-14: https://gov.wales/job-satisfaction-national-survey-wales-april-2013-march-2014
Who is more likely to feel able to influence decisions affecting their local area?, 2014-15: https://gov.wales/influencing-decisions-local-area-national-survey-wales-april-2014-march-2015
Who is more likely to feel safe in their local area?, 2013-14: https://gov.wales/feeling-safe-local-area-national-survey-wales-april-2013-march-2014
Who is more likely to have a strong sense of community?, 2013-14: https://gov.wales/sense-community-national-survey-wales-april-2013-march-2014
Who is more likely to speak Welsh?, 2014-15: https://gov.wales/speaking-welsh-national-survey-wales-april-2014-march-2015

Keywords

National Survey for Wales; National Survey; Future Generation; FG; Indicators; National Indicators; Well-being;

Name

NSFW0002

Dataset

OData (JSON) http://open.statswales.gov.wales/dataset/nsfw0002

Metadata

OData (JSON) http://open.statswales.gov.wales/en-gb/discover/metadata?$filter=Dataset eq 'nsfw0002'

Dimensions

OData (JSON) http://open.statswales.gov.wales/en-gb/discover/datasetdimensions?$filter=Dataset eq 'nsfw0002'

Items

OData (JSON) http://open.statswales.gov.wales/en-gb/discover/datasetdimensionitems?$filter=Dataset eq 'nsfw0002'