With an ambition to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050, ensuring the language is visible and usable across higher education and research is central to Wales’s future. Yet despite growing numbers of children entering Welsh-medium education, a gap remains between school and university, shaped by confidence, standards, and institutional support for using Welsh professionally and academically.
This webinar brings together researchers, policymakers, and sector bodies to explore that gap from multiple angles. Speakers will examine how linguistic shame around “correct” Welsh affects students long before they reach higher education, how the divide between first- and second-language Welsh speakers creates barriers for those entering Welsh-medium study through the second-language route, and how these dynamics play out in fields like STEM, where Welsh-medium research remains rare but is being actively built. The session will also consider the policy and institutional infrastructure shaping this landscape, from Medr’s strategic responsibilities for Welsh-medium tertiary education and research, to Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol’s direct work supporting learners and researchers to study and work confidently in Welsh.
Chaired by Professor Enlli Thomas FLSW, the event will include presentations from Dr Katharine Young, Dr Owain Beynon, Dr Gwennan Higham, Dr Bedwyr ab Ion Thomas (Medr), and Dr Manon James (Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol).
The session will include short presentations from each speaker, followed by an open Q&A. Participants are welcome to submit questions in advance.
