Welsh for adults

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The Welsh for adults sector moved swiftly to deliver online courses at the start of the COVID pandemic. It continued to offer a range of online learning, as well as in person courses, during 2022-2023. Overall, learners are highly motivated and take part in their learning with enthusiasm and the standard of care, support and guidance continues to be a strength in this sector.

Teaching and learning

Both providers inspected offered a full range of courses, from entry to proficiency level, in-person and online. This enabled learners to choose courses and modes of learning that met their individual needs and personal circumstances. One provider worked effectively with local and national bodies to provide valuable, bespoke workplace courses for staff at a range of employers that helped contribute positively to the national mission of achieving a million Welsh speakers by 2050. For example, courses were delivered for the Football Association of Wales and the Wales Millennium Centre.

Nearly all learners, in all types of provision, were highly motivated and contributed enthusiastically during their lessons. Learners made good or better progress in their speaking and listening skills when they were challenged effectively by tutors to extend their answers and take advantage of opportunities to use their Welsh language skills outside of formal lessons.

In one provider inspected, teaching was highly effective and consequently learners persevered to use Welsh with their tutors and each other throughout lessons, without turning to English. Many of the learners in this provider also benefited from additional provision outside their usual lessons. This supported them well to become increasingly independent and active Welsh speakers.

In the other provider, tutors’ expectations of learners in a minority of lessons were not high enough. Tutors were too ready to turn to English when presenting activities and providing instructions and, in a few cases, tutors did not support learners’ pronunciation well enough. In addition, despite encouragement to practise speaking Welsh regularly, a minority of learners did not take up the opportunities planned. As a result, a minority of these learners did not make as much progress as they could over time.

Care, support and well-being

The standard of care, support and guidance remained, as in previous years, an area of strength in both providers inspected. Providers succeeded in creating close-knit, inclusive learning communities that offered effective support to all learners, including those with additional needs. This had a positive effect on learners’ attitudes to learning and their enjoyment of learning experiences.

Staff at both providers offered valuable extra support for learners to continue learning if they missed lessons or had fallen behind. Providers communicated effectively with learners and, as a result, most felt that their views were listed to and acted upon appropriately.

In one of the two providers inspected, there was no formal system in place to track learners’ attendance and monitor it regularly to facilitate effective forward planning and ensure progress.

Leading and improving

Both providers inspected had a clear vision, in line with the National Centre’s vision and the Welsh Government’s policy, to increase the numbers of Welsh speakers. They fulfil an important role within their host organisations in promoting and increasing the use of the Welsh language. A notable example is the programme of taster courses for over 100 medical students from the School of Medicine, Cardiff University to learn basic phrases before they spend time with patients on hospital wards.

Leadership in one provider was highly effective. Leaders at all levels understood their roles and worked well together to provide high quality experiences for learners. There was an embedded culture of continuous self-evaluation and improvement in all aspects of work. The provision improved over time to the benefit of learners, supported by purposeful planning for improvement, the effective analysis of data and targeted continuous professional development. In the other provider inspected, processes to assure the quality of teaching and learning were not sufficiently evaluative to identify strengths and areas for improvement. As a result, the professional learning offer did not support tutors purposefully enough to improve specific teaching and learning practices. In addition, leaders did not use data effectively to plan provision and prioritise areas for improvement.