Welsh language annual report 2024-2025

Executive summary

Croeso to our Welsh language annual report for 2024-2025. This report focuses on how we have implemented our Welsh language standards policy and the work we have done to improve our Welsh language services during the reporting year.

This year has seen the organisation go through a Case for Change programme ensuring that our organisation is well-positioned and resilient to face th

e future. Welsh language skills formed consideration for new roles and vacancies created from this work, with a Welsh Language Impact assessment completed to understand what impact the Case for Change programme could potentially impact NRWs ability to deliver services bilingually.

We have seen our headcount decrease by 92, which has resulted in the numbers at each Welsh language skill level reduce. Despite the decrease in the numbers, the percentage of fluent Welsh speakers at Levels 4 and 5 has remained at 24%. 

The highest percentage of our Welsh speakers remain fluent in both written and spoken Welsh are at Level 5 (15%). Most of our fluent Welsh speakers (307) are in our Operations Directorate. Overall, 748 (32%) of our colleagues can discuss matters in Welsh at Levels, 3, 4 and 5, with 94% of our colleagues can show linguistic courtesy when meeting and greeting others.

143 colleagues enrolled to develop their language skills at various levels. This figure is down by 79 from last year (222 learners in total in 2023/34). This is understandable due to the “Case for Change” programme. Our learners are based across the whole of Wales.
During this year we were monitored by the Welsh Language Commissioner on our compliance with the Standards. In March 2025 we received confirmation that this activity along with our self-assessment and supporting evidence provided the Commissioner with assurance of high compliance with our standards. We took this opportunity to scrutinise our compliance with each of our standards closely and produced a two-year action plan on areas identified that needed work to attain full compliance, or areas we needed to review and monitor more closely.

This report highlights the work we have done to improve our Welsh language services to the public and the work that has taken place to increase opportunities for colleagues to use their Welsh language skills within our workplace.

We launched our Welsh Language Awareness Training on our new Learning Management System. This training will help colleagues in gaining a better understanding the important role the language has in our work in sharing important messages with our customers, partners, and stakeholders as we tackle climate and nature emergencies together. helping us to fulfil our purpose of nature and people thriving together.

The use of the Welsh language in the workplace is not only a reflection of cultural diversity but also a means of promoting inclusivity and fostering a sense of belonging among Welsh-speaking colleagues. It helps preserve and celebrate Wales' rich linguistic heritage and can enhance communication and cooperation within teams.

Introduction

The Welsh Language Standards came into force for NRW on 25th January 2017, under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and regulated by the Welsh Language Commissioner under Welsh Language Standards (No. 2) Regulations 2016.

Aim of the Standards are:

• Provide a better and more consistent Welsh language service to Welsh speakers.
• Make it clear to Welsh speakers’ what services they can expect in Welsh.
• Make it clear to public organisations what their duties are in relation to the Welsh language.
• Ensure that the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than the English language.

This report demonstrates how we have implemented the standards and the work we have done to improve our Welsh language services during the reporting year 2024/25.

Welsh language standards

The standards we are required to comply with are in four categories:

Service Standards - the Welsh language services we provide to the public. 

Policy Standards - ensuring that Welsh language forms part of the decision-making process by carrying out Equality Impact Assessments ensuring that the decision has no adverse effect, but positive or increased effects on the opportunities to use the Welsh language. 

Operational Standards - promoting and facilitating the Welsh language in our internal administration processes. 

Record Keeping Standards - keeping records for compliance with the requirements of the standards in areas such as colleagues Welsh language skills, training, complaints, and recruitment. 

The Standards requires that we produce an Annual Report in relation to each financial year explaining what steps we have taken to comply with our Standards. 

Compliance Oversight Arrangement

Governance and monitoring our standards

Monitoring compliance of Standards is carried out by Specialist Advisor Welsh Language Policy, any risks highlighted to Head of People Development and Wellbeing and Executive Director of Corporate Strategy and Development for discussion with Managers and explained at Grŵp Pencampwyr meetings.

Grŵp Pencampwyr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Champions Group) include representatives from across our Directorates will raise any issues of non-compliance with the Specialist Advisor Welsh Language Policy at their quarterly meetings.

The People Transformation Programme Project Board promotes and supports the implementation of our Welsh Language Standards, and our aim as an organisation to develop into a bilingual organisation by creating opportunities to use Welsh across the organisation internally as well as with partners and customers. 

Head of People Development and Wellbeing has overall responsibility and oversees implementation of the policy across the organisation. 

Our Welsh Language Annual Report follows our internal Governance process of endorsement by our Executive Team and approval by our People and Customer Committee prior to publication. 

Our Annual Reports and how we promote, facilitate, and oversee compliance with our Standards is published on our website. 

Welsh Language Commissioner Compliance Promotion Plan

The Commissioner is running a four-year Monitoring, Assessment and Implementation Plan, and 2024/25 is the last year of that plan. As part of the Plan, we are formally monitored every other year. We were monitored in 2022/23 and again in 2024/2025. 

This monitoring work contributes towards identifying the level of assurance and compliance with our standards and helps to highlight any potential failures or problems. Our Annual Report is also used to provide assurance to the Commissioner of our compliance with our standards.

The Commissioner also holds a programme of events throughout the year to share information and good practice. Our Welsh Language Policy Advisor has attended the majority of these sessions which has helped support our compliance work.

This way of working provides the Commissioner's Office, and ourselves with confidence on our level of compliance with the standards and show progress made on data collected previously. 

Self-Assessment of Compliance with our standards

As part of the Welsh Language Commissioner’s four-year Monitoring, Assessment and Implementation Plan, we completed a self-assessment questionnaire in September 2024. The questionnaire asked that we indicated our level of self-assurance of compliance with our standards and provide comments and evidence to support our assessment. 

We took this opportunity to scrutinise our compliance with each of our standards closely and produced a two-year action plan on areas identified that needed work to attain full compliance, or areas we needed to review and monitor more closely. These were shared with the Commissioner as part of our response to the self-assessment and the steps we intended to take to attain full compliance.

This new “co-regulation” way of working with the Commissioner provides us with confidence in our compliance with the standards with evidence to show progress as we work through the action plan and steps taken to achieve compliance.

In March 2025 we received confirmation from the Commissioner following their monitoring activity, our self-assessment and supporting evidence provided that this provided them with assurance of high compliance with our standards.

Some of the actions we have taken following our self-assessment work to improve our compliance with the standards has been:

• Working with and advising the Environment Agency, Digital Fishing Licences (email and text) became bilingual in September 2024. Email and text confirmation of purchase sent to customers that had chosen to receive their licences by post, became bilingual in mid-September 2024. All digital expiry notifications became bilingual in February 2025. This work helps to ensure the service on .Gov is compliant with our service delivery standards.
• New guidance developed for colleagues involved in assessing grant applications which includes points to consider when Welsh language conditions apply to the grant, to ensure full compliance with standards 68a, 69 and 71.
• Contract Management Pro-Forma updated and embedded into contract management process and ensured that all KPI's in relation to Welsh Language is noted on Contract management performance report for Contract Managers to complete as part of their duties to ensure full compliance with standards 72, 73, 74 and 76.
• Welsh Language Impact Assessment guidance and form completed and launched to ensure requirements compliance with standards 84 – 89 are considered as part of our policies and procedures and in relation to consultation and research.
• Welsh Language Awareness online training course developed bilingually and launched on Learning Management System to ensure full compliance with standard 128.

The two-year Action Plan developed from the self-assessment is a live document and continues to be reviewed and added to regularly, this helps us in tracking progress on this area of work. The People Transformation Programme Project Board oversee the delivery of the action plan.

Whilst we received confirmation of high compliance from the Commissioner following our self-assessment on this occasion, we need to continue in monitoring our compliance, raising awareness of the standards and ensure the Welsh language is mainstreamed into our projects, policies and processes to maintain this standard.

Risk of non-compliance

There are two areas which we are non-compliant with our Standards as follows:

1. The one area of risk which was highlighted in our self-assessment is the “Buy a rod fishing licence” service which is administered on our behalf by the Environment Agency. The landing pages on .Gov for the service remains in English only. Our Translation Team have provided the Welsh versions to the Environment Agency who have made a request .Gov to update the pages. This is a pending request from last year with .Gov, once completed this will ensure a complete Welsh language user journey for customers and full compliance with our Service Delivery Standards. The Commissioner is aware of this pending issue.
2. The second area of risk has recently been identified in the drafting of this report is our ability to provide statistics on the number and percentage of colleagues who have completed courses noted in Standard 124 ((recruitment and interviewing, performance management, complaints and disciplinary procedures, induction and online non-technical health and safety courses) through the medium of Welsh as required in Standard 146. 

Our Learning Management System allows colleagues to switch language at any point within the course which helps and encourages Welsh learners and Welsh speakers to complete and understand technical terminology and course content in Welsh. Due to this functionality, we are unable to provide statistics on the number and percentage of colleagues who have completed courses in Welsh. This makes us not compliant with Standard 124. We will bring this matter to the attention of the Welsh Language Commissioner for further discussion.

Implementing and improving our services and compliance

Translation Team Support and Services

To support the organisations day to day needs in delivering our Welsh Language Standards and services, our Translation Team provide an invaluable and essential service and without them a high percentage of the work highlighted in this report would be difficult to achieve. 
The team make good use of the translation memory, Phrase Translate, which they have been using for 2 years. The team has managed to thrive during a challenging year and answer the increasing demand in the light of the Case for Change and all related materials. The translation memory now contains over 3 million words - meaning it has doubled in size over the past year.

The team now manages to do the majority of the work in-house – a goal that was set when the team was created in its current form some three years ago.

Over this reporting year the team have translated:

• 1,702,237 words internally
• 981,282 have been translated externally

The above statistics do not include the abundance of small tasks, a sentence or two long, that are received daily, or any work beyond translation, such as proofreading and checking.
29 Simultaneous Translation service requests have also been arranged as follows:

• 15 for the service on location
• 10 for the Service over Microsoft Teams
• 4 hybrid requests

Some of the above requests involved important consultation work, this also extended to ensuring that those presenting at events could do so in Welsh. An example of this was at our Evidence Conference where a translator was provided for the first time enabling presentations in Welsh. There was a lot of positive feedback as a result of this. There was also positive feedback about the translation service in the significant meetings about the provision in our Visitor Centres - events where Welsh language provision was crucial.

Some other work the team have been involved with:

• Supporting NRW on projects with the Coal Board and Environment Agency
• Process of naming trails and sites we manage
• Proofreading and approving site signage and leaflets
• Pair and Trio writing work e.g. “Buy a rod Fishing Licence”
• Day to day Translation needs for Natur am Byth. Providing advice and guidance on ways forward with some of their creative projects and considerations that need to be given when commissioning this type of work which isn’t always a straight Translation
• Involved in Mentrau Iaith’s Gwreiddiau Gwyllt partnership project by contributing to the standardisation of terminology in the field of the environment and the natural world.

The team continue to promote their checking service and continue to encourage colleagues to use their Welsh and keep an eye on this statistic to see if there is progress in the coming years.

Whilst the last year has been challenging for the team, they have exceeded expectations, and extended their influence to assist colleagues, helping to ensure that the Welsh language is a consideration in all the organisation's work. 

More detailed information on the work of our Translation Team can be found in Appendix 1 of this report.

 

Service Delivery Standards

Brand

As part of our work in developing and implementing our brand and corporate bilingual identity, ensuring that we all represent the organisation professionally when connecting with external partners, presenting at events and with each other internally is really important. In support of the Brand Guide which was published last year and our vision in our Welsh Language Standards policy to work towards establishing ourselves as a naturally bilingual organisation we have:

• Introduced Teams backgrounds to promote the use of the Welsh language at all Welsh language skill levels
• Continuing to develop our bilingual brand guide
• Developing and reinforcing the use of bilingual templates
• Facilitating our Brand awareness sessions including how we can use our Welsh language more everyday
• Webinars 

Over the next year our Brand Manager will be concentrating on:

• Brand awareness session built into induction to capture all new starters
• Using screen savers to raise awareness of key campaigns and messages which will reach every colleague with a laptop
• Using desktop backgrounds to raise awareness of key campaigns and messages
  
  

Cymraeg logos

As part of our St David’s Day celebrations in March 2025 we updated and refreshed images on our Microsoft Teams backgrounds, we've added three Cymraeg logos to celebrate and promote the Welsh language. Using these in our meetings is a fantastic way to inspire everyone to use their Welsh more often, and it really supports learners in using their language skills for work purposes. 

The three logos also form part of our corporate signatures which are available automatically in our email signatures. They are:

‘DW I’N DYSGU CYMRAEG’  - for Welsh learners who are confident to use and practice their Welsh language skills in meetings.

‘CYMRAEG’ - for fluent Welsh speakers so that others can recognise that they speak Welsh.

‘HAPUS I SIARAD CYMRAEG’ - for fluent Welsh speakers to let learners know they are happy to chat to them informally in Welsh to help them in developing their language skills. We are working with ICT on getting this new logo as a mail tip option in our Outlook email, this will help our learners in using their written Welsh with colleagues internally.

More work will be carried out over the coming year to promote the use of these logos and Microsoft Teams backgrounds which will ensure that we portray a professional corporate image as an organisation in our online meetings with others.

Compliance Assessment Recording System (CARS)

New guidance has been developed and the intranet pages updated for our regulatory colleagues who use our CARS system to ensure that:

• A language preference is established for each new and existing customers who are yet to confirm their language preference, providing the customer with a choice of receiving the document in Welsh, English or bilingually
• A new field has been added to the permit/licence document set to record the language preference
• A new step by step guide to provide more clarity on how to complete a CAR document in Welsh or bilingually.

Training is being organised for colleagues who use the CARS system and Welsh language requirements will form part of this work. This will help ensure that all customers in receipt of a CARS form do so in their preferred language. 

Education training events

Recently many of the bilingual education resources have been reviewed and bought in line with Curriculum for Wales with new sections on promoting biodiversity in school grounds, soil, and sustainable tourism published. 

However NRW’s Case for Change programme which has seen a renewed focus on key areas and core responsibilities has meant we will no longer be delivering our national bilingual educator training programme, supporting Learning Networks, delivering our bi-lingual learning campaigns or issuing our monthly newsletter which we acknowledge represents a significant loss of influence and advocacy for the education sector. 
Over the years we have been proud to report significant outputs and outcomes from our strategic Education and Skills work which has supported the delivery of our Welsh Language Standards.

We will continue to support our partners and stakeholders in this area and offer bi-lingual placements to support our future workforce.

New Flood warning Information Service

As part of our ongoing efforts to provide a better service to the people of Wales, we launched our new Flood Warning Information Services for Wales on 17 July 2024 with a week-long #BarodAmLifogydd focussed campaign in October. Against a backdrop of a changing climate and more frequent extreme weather events, the service is playing a key role in increasing community resilience now, and in the future. The flood warning services we provide and how people can sign up to them is available on our website. 

Customers are able to customise the service by choosing which flood service messages to receive, whether they wish to join the services in Welsh or English, the best method of contact, and adding other locations of interest. Customers can receive both written and verbal messages. As a category one respondent, in an emergency we include situation specific information in English only on our website and in our Listen to Flood Warnings Floodline service. 

The aim of #BarodAmLifogydd campaign was to encourage more people to sign up to receive flood warnings, another element of this activity was to focus on highlighting that the service is available in Welsh and encourage more to use our Welsh language services. This new service provides customers with the choice of receiving written and verbal messages in either language.

During our #BarodAmLifogydd campaign we took advantage of media and social media contacts, and with partners to refer to the service as a vital step people can take to ensure they are more resilient to flood threats. All our promotional work in relation to the service explicitly included that the service was available in Welsh. 

Statistics on the number of accounts created can be found in the section below “Data on the use of our Welsh language services”. The campaign resulted in 206 more accounts being created than in 2023 with an increase in customers choosing to receive information in Welsh. Previously only 23 requesting information in Welsh. By providing more choice in the services we provide, written and verbal, along with being proactive in promoting the Welsh language availability, we have seen an increase in the number who have signed to receive information in Welsh.

We will continue to promote the service and its Welsh language availability.

Data on the use of our Welsh language services

Below are statistics in relation to the use of our Welsh language services. As our services evolve over the coming years becoming more automated using technology, we will be able to collect and analyse more data on the Welsh language use of our services. This will help us in identifying what interventions we can make to promote, encourage and increase the use our Welsh language services.

Customer hub

The customer hub deals with all incoming calls for our organisation and is operational Monday to Friday from 9am – 5pm.

During this reporting year:

• 15,977 calls in total were dealt with by the hub
• 916 (5.7%) calls were dealt with in Welsh
• 15,061(94.3%) calls were dealt with in English
• -86 (0.4%) reduction on the number of Welsh calls received in comparison to the last reporting year

We continue to promote the use of the Welsh language, by providing it as the first option for customers who contact Natural Resources Wales and our core handlers are fluent Welsh speakers. Despite a proactive language offer, a number of Welsh speakers still initially choose our English service, but the call will often change to a Welsh language call when it is understood the call handler is a Welsh speaker. However, because the customer initially selected the English service these calls are registered as English medium calls on our system despite ultimately being dealt with in Welsh.

The Welsh language service that the hub provides is promoted on our website.

Incident Communications Centre

Our Incident Communications Centre (ICC) is a service provided to the public to report an environmental incident and is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days of the week. ICC provide a proactive language choice to all callers.

During this reporting year:

• 14,785 calls in total were dealt with by the centre
• 415 (2.8%) calls were dealt with in Welsh
• 14,370 (97.2%) calls were dealt with in English

We are unable to provide a comparison figure for last year due to a new system being installed in February 2024. Our report for next year will provide a comparison.

The Centre also provides the Welsh language service for Floodline UK which was transferred over to us in 2024. 134 calls were dealt with on this line.

Some but not many calls recorded as Welsh medium calls were dealt with in English as the callers were not Welsh speakers having chosen the Welsh option. 

The Welsh language service the centre provides is promoted on our website.

Website

Our statistics show that over the year there were 120,044 (5.25%) page views on our Welsh pages this is a decrease of 57,409 views from last year. There were 2,659,677 (95.6%) on English pages. The most accessed page in Welsh was our Flooding page which had 1,900 views.

We can only use Google Analytics data to give an estimate of website visits rather than accurate data. This is because:

• we can only track uses that agree to marketing cookies when they visit the website
• Google Analytics has started including ‘estimated user data’ to fill out data that could be missing because a user has not agreed to marketing cookies, but we can’t be sure of its accuracy
• we can’t be certain that the numbers exclude our internal colleagues

 

Flood warning Information Service 

• 3177 Flood Warning accounts were created between 17th July 2024 and 14th April 2025
• 59 signed up to receive both written and verbal messages in Welsh
• 21 signed up to receive English written and Welsh verbal messages
• 7 signed up to receive Welsh written and English verbal messages
• 206 more accounts were created than for the previous service in 2023 when 23 requesting information in Welsh
• More people signed up during the two #BarodAmLifogydd campaigns, with an increase when flooding was imminent

 

Policy Making Standards

Equality Impact Assessments

The Welsh language continues to form part of our Equality Impact Assessments, when there is likely to be an increased impact on the Welsh language or a need to consult on our work then a separate Welsh Language Impact Assessment is completed. This ensures that the language is given due consideration in all our policies and procedures. 

• 33 Equality Impact Assessments were assessed which included Welsh language considerations during this reporting year.

 

Welsh language impact assessments

During this reporting year we introduced guidance and process in relation to completing Welsh Language Impact Assessments, discussing, seeking advice from the Welsh Language Commissioner during the drafting process.

The guidance helps colleagues understand the considerations that need to be given to our Welsh Language Standards numbers 84 – 89 in relation to policy making decisions, carrying out research to support the decision and when carrying out consultations.

The Welsh Language Standards define “policy decision” as any decision an organisation makes about:

• Exercising its functions
• Conducting its business or other undertaking

This process helps to ensure that the language is mainstreamed into our ways of working and responsibilities as a public organisation. 

• 2 Welsh Language Impact Assessments have been drafted during this reporting year which continue to be reviewed as part of the process. One for the Case for Change and the other for the Designation of a New National Park.

 

Operational Standards

Review internal policies

Disciplinary, Resolution, Bullying and Harassment policies

During this reporting year our Disciplinary, Resolution and Bullying and Harassment policies have been reviewed. As part of this review, we have added a Welsh language section which states clearly that colleagues have a right for the entirety of the processes to be conducted through the medium of Welsh. Managers have the responsibility to make employees aware of this at the beginning of the process. Employees are responsible for confirming their language preferences at the earliest opportunity.  

Code of behaviour and Social media use policy

The Code of behaviour and Social media use policy reinforces NRW’s values and sets out the principles with which all colleagues must comply, and the minimum standards of conduct and behaviour expected from all colleagues and NRW as their employer.

A new “Welsh language” section has been added to the both which includes our duty to adhere to our legal duties under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011,  reinforcing NRW’s values and sets out the principles with which all colleagues must comply, respecting the language preference of colleagues, customers and stakeholders.

This will support further embedding of our Welsh Language Standards policy in ensuring that all colleagues will be made aware of the policy and procedures as part of their day-to-day work and the languages importance to our work as a bilingual organisation.

Learning Management System (LMS)

Launch of Learning Management System and NRW Knowledge Hub

As part of the People Transformation Programme, in July 2024 we launched the Learning Management System (LMS) and the "Knowledge Hub" to address the training needs, to support of the organisation and colleagues to develop and grow.

This LMS is available bilingually, and colleagues can choose to navigate it in either Welsh or English. We currently have 160 courses available in both languages, the system allows colleagues to switch language at any point within the course which helps and encourages Welsh learners and Welsh speakers to complete and understand technical terminology and course content in Welsh. Due to this functionality, we are unable to provide statistics on the number of colleagues who have completed the courses in Welsh. Prior to the LMS colleagues were unable to complete their online training in Welsh. 

The LMS also allows us to create, manage and run our own training courses. We are able to provide NRW created eLearning courses bilingually and we can use AI for the Welsh voiceover or manually record the Welsh. We are also able to extend this to a catalogue of external courses provided by the LMS provider and run accurate reports on the needs and completion rates within the system. Managers can easily see what training their teams have completed and what they need to complete.  

Our ‘NRW Knowledge Hub’ is aligned to our values and behaviours. This is available in Welsh and introduces 12 new core behaviours which have been co-produced and developed with our colleagues.

Sgwrs - Performance

The LMS system has been enhanced to include an additional module to support Sgwrs – our regular check-ins with managers or Team Leaders to discuss well-being, personal development and how colleagues are performing against the requirements of their role. This new module which is called “Perform" became live on 1 April 2025. This provides a single window approach to performance, learning and personal development in the organisation which colleagues can use and complete information in Welsh.

All the above provides opportunities for colleagues who are fluent Welsh speakers and those developing their language skills to be able to use their skills within our workplace, supporting our ambition as an organisation to increase the use of Welsh internally. 

ICT Portal – Hornbill

Our ICT self-service help and support hub is available for colleagues to use in Welsh or English and we have a dedicated area within the hub which has been updated during this reporting year listing all the systems that are available for colleagues to use in Welsh in our workplace:

Systems

• MYNRW
• MS Office
• MS Outlook
• MS Windows
• Microsoft 365
• MS Teams
• Intranet
• Learning Management System

Welsh language tools

• Cysill
• Cysgeir
• To Bach
• People Finder – lists colleagues Welsh language capabilities

Welsh language training programme

This year, 143 colleagues have enrolled to develop their language skills at various levels. This figure is down by 79 from last year (222 learners in total in 2023/34). This is understandable due to the “Case for Change” programme.

Colleagues are developing their language skills as follows: 

• 48 (34%) at entry level
• 42 (29%) at foundation level
• 29 (20%) at intermediate level
• 23 (16%) at advanced level
• 1 (1%) at proficiency level

The 24 who are developing their language skills at advanced, and proficiency are likely to become fluent Welsh speakers in the next two years if they continue in developing their skills.

Our learners are based across Wales with the majority learning as follows: 

• 35 (24%) – Ceredigion/Powys
• 33 (23%) – North West Wales
• 33 (23%) – Gwent
• 15 (10%) – North East Wales

Nant Gwrtheyrn provide intensive residential courses at all levels and continue to be very popular with 21 colleagues attending over this reporting year. 15 of these were fully funded through the Work Welsh scheme provided by National Centre for Learning Welsh.

Colleagues continue to provide very positive feedback for these courses, with interest already being shown for the next cohort between April and July 2025.

More information on our Welsh Language Training programme can be found in Appendix 2 of this report.

 

Welsh Language Awareness training

We developed our own Welsh Language Awareness course which is now available on our LMS which allows us to report accurately the number of colleagues who have completed the training. The training objectives are to raise awareness of:

• the language, its history and role in Welsh culture
• our duty as a public organisation to implement our Welsh Language Standards policy and why
• how we can use the language in our workplace

We have manually recorded the voice over for the training in Welsh and English rather than use the AI capability of the software, and colleagues are proactively provided with a language choice to complete the training at the start. It took longer than expected to develop slides that were compatible with the functionality of the system. 

Our Executive Team approved this as mandatory training for all colleagues to complete which will take time over the coming months to achieve. As mandatory training it will appear in all colleagues LMS accounts to complete, and they will receive email prompts automatically from the system until the training has been completed. The training has been promoted to Managers who have been asked to ensure all their team complete, and reminders will be sent out periodically over the coming months to Line Mangers as well as further communications to promote the course. 

To date the majority of the feedback has been very positive from those who have completed the training with 483 on the LMS with a further 36 having received training as part of their Induction during the year. We expect all colleagues to have completed this training within the next 6 months.

Developing Welsh Language Standards Training

To help colleagues better understand what services we must provide in Welsh and how, a new Welsh Language Standards training has been developed on our LMS which will be launched on our LMS during Spring 2025. The training provides guidance and visual examples of letterhead templates, forms, agendas etc being shared on the screen as well as good practices in working bilingually. The training also raises awareness of the support we have in place to help everyone to work bilingually, our Translation Team services and our Welsh Language Training programme.

This training will be mandatory for colleagues who deal with the public as part of their role. This is an additional and more visual inclusive resource to support colleagues along with information and guidance already in published on the Welsh language pages of the intranet.

Recording Standards 

Record Keeping Standards    

Our Standards require that we keep records as follows:

The number of employees who have Welsh language skills at the end of the year in question on the basis of the records kept in accordance with standard 145

Over the financial last year our headcount has decreased by 92, which has also resulted in the numbers at each Welsh language skill level reduce. Despite the decrease in the numbers, the latest data shows that the percentage of fluent Welsh speakers at Levels 4 and 5 has remained at 24%, the percentage has also remained the same for all other levels.

The highest percentage of our Welsh speakers remain fluent in both written and spoken Welsh are at Level 5 (15%). Most of our fluent Welsh speakers (307) are in our Operations Directorate. Overall, 748 (32%) of our colleagues can discuss matters in Welsh at Levels, 3, 4 and 5, with 94% of our colleagues can show linguistic courtesy when meeting and greeting others.

Colleagues are asked to self-assess their language skills and record in MyNRW. The Welsh language skills of our colleagues in March 2025 can be found below:

• Level 5 = 345 (15%)
• Level 4 = 211 (9%)
• Level 3 = 192 (8%)
• Level 2 = 478 (20%)
• Level 1 = 979 (42%)
• No skills = 88 (4%)
• 63 (2%) are yet to self-assess their language skills. 

A reminder will be sent out to those colleagues and their managers who are yet to assess their language skills once the Case for Change has completed and all colleagues in post. 

Analysis of our fluent Welsh speakers show that: 

• The majority are aged between 36-45 (161) 
• 138 are aged between 46-55
• 114 are aged 55+ 
• 309 are male and 247 are females 
• 93 work part-time
• The highest numbers are in Grades 5 and 6 (261) with the lowest numbers (25) at our more senior Grades of 9 and above.
• 1 new starter is a fluent in both spoken and written Welsh
• 14 fluent Welsh speakers have left the organisation during this reporting year
• 23 who were fluent in both spoken and written Welsh have left the organisation during this reporting year

Our colleagues who have been supported to develop their language skills and successfully moved up a language level during the reporting year were reminded to update their Welsh language skills record in MyNRW. This helps us in providing more accurate figures on the language levels in the organisation when reporting.

More information on the Welsh language skills of colleagues can be found in Appendix 3 of this report.

The number of staff who attended training courses offered in Welsh during the year on the basis of the records kept in accordance with standard 146. If a Welsh version of a course was offered during the year, the percentage of the total number of staff attending the course who attended the Welsh version on the basis of the records kept in accordance with standard 124

During this reporting year following the implementation of our LMS all of our online courses in accordance with Standard 124 are available for colleagues to complete in Welsh:

• recruitment and interviewing – 5 have completed this course
• performance management – 16 have completed this course
• complaints and disciplinary procedures – no courses taken place
• induction – online using Microsoft Teams 4 completed one element of the course in Welsh and 46 in English (face to face over Teams)
• dealing with the public – no courses taken place
• health and safety – 81 have completed an online health and safety course

The majority of our health and safety courses are technical courses and are carried out face to face and are conducted in English. We advertise that our face to face First Aid course is available in Welsh; to date we have not received a booking for the Welsh medium course.

Due to the functionality of the LMS which allows colleagues to switch language at any point within a course, we are unable to provide statistics on the number of colleagues who have completed the courses in Welsh which makes us non-compliant with Standard 146.

The number of new and vacant posts advertised during the year which were categorised as requiring Welsh language skills as essential, desirable, needed to be learnt when appointed to the post, or not necessary on the basis of the records kept in accordance with standard 148

Over this reporting year there has been very limited recruitment taking place with 40 vacancies being advertised due to a recruitment freeze. 

Some vacancies are advertised both internally and externally simultaneously, 24 were appointed from internal candidates, 16 from external candidates 40 in total. To date, 9 of the external candidates who have secured roles with us have started working with us during this reporting year.

All posts are advertised requiring Level 1 as the minimum language, training is given to colleagues who need to attain this level of understanding to show linguistic courtesy.

Number of posts advertised during this reporting year were as follows:

Language Level	Essential	Desirable	Welsh to be learnt
Level 5 – fluency in spoken and written Welsh	0	0	0
Level 4 – fluency in spoken Welsh	1	0	0
Level 3 - The ability to communicate in Welsh with confidence in some work situations	0	0	0
Level 1 – The ability to pronounce basic Welsh names, phrases, and greetings	39	0	0

Analysis of the above stats and language abilities of colleagues who have secured roles through our recruitment process, both internally and externally during this reporting year are as follows:

• 8 (20%) are Welsh speakers at Level 5
• 4 (10%) are Welsh speakers at Level 4
• 3 (7.5%) are Welsh speakers at Level 3
• 10 (25%) are Welsh speakers at Level 2
• 13 (32.5%) are Welsh speakers at Level 1
• 2 (5%) had no Welsh language skills

The 2 who do not meet the Level 1 minimum language level required will be expected to complete the 10-hour online course provided by the National Centre for Learning Welsh. This course will need to be completed within the probationary period to help achieve this level.

The number of complaints received during the year which related to compliance with standards numbers 152, 156, 162 and 164 with which we are under a duty to comply with

We received 3 complaints which came directly to us and one which went to the Welsh Language Commissioner as follows:

Complaint 1 – July 2024

We received a complaint from a member of the public concerning a bilingual sign which stated that Newborough beach rather than Llanddwyn beach car park was full. The traffic management for the car park is managed by a third party on our behalf and the contract stated that all signage needed to be bilingual, but did not specifically state that they use the official names for the beach. 

We explained to the complainant that the official name for the beach which is more commonly known as Llanddwyn consists of three beaches – Penrhos, Ro Fawr and Ro Fach. We thanked the complainant for drawing this to our attention and assured that the matter would be rectified and provide clear guidance to the third party.

Complaint 2 – July 2024

A member of the public complained that a motorsport organisation who had permission from us to hold the event displayed signage in English only which the complainant explained did not adhere with our Welsh Language Standards Policy. The complainant noted being pleased that a local rally organisation who also had permission had used bilingual signage.

Having discussed this matter with our legal team it was explained to the complainant that the organisation had permission to use our land for a purpose as stated in their permission. They were not through such an agreement providing services on our behalf, therefore would not be subject to our Standards.

Following this matter we have discussed with our Legal Team on including a form of words in our permissions documentation to raise awareness and encourage the use of the language as part of promotion and running events held on the land we manage, with a link provided to our policy. 

Complaint 3 – January 2025

We received a complaint from a member of the public regarding the use of Snowdonia National Park instead of Eryri on our mapping, and feedback on the website in general.

We responded that we were aware of this matter and working with our mapping providers to update the maps, with work underway to ensure that we have reliable consistent mapping, which are accessible and use the standard Welsh names correctly on the mapping we use on our website.

We also ensured the complainant that work was underway to update the use of Eryri (Snowdonia) to the use Eryri only on our website following the decision made by the National Park, and followed their example of introducing Eryri gradually but have come to the conclusion that it was timely that we use only Eryri moving forward. 

Complaint received by Welsh Language Commissioner - Wales Coast Path July 2024

The Welsh Language Commissioner received a complaint from a member of the public claiming that the content of the Welsh Coast Path Facebook, X and Instagram pages was in English only.

We explained to the Commissioner that historically posts on our social media channels for the Welsh Coast Path have been published in both languages. In May 2024 a PR agency has started publishing our social media posts on our behalf under a new contract for these channels to publish in both languages.

Having looked in to the matter the agency clarified that the messages appeared to be in English only despite being posted for publication in both languages. This was due to a limit in the number of letters the software they used allowed for each post, therefore the Welsh posts have been cut off because of this. Neither the agency or the Coastal Path Team were aware of the restrictions before the issue was drawn to our attention. The third party also confirmed that they had published the English post above the Welsh one rather than the Welsh first as agreed.
A meeting took place with the agency to discuss the requirements of the contract and the Welsh Language Standards.

From August our Coast Path social media posts are published as follows:

• Each message is published separately in Welsh and English with the Welsh message being published as likely to be seen first.
• The Welsh message is published first
• If the message is very short e.g. 40 – 60 letters, then one message will be published in both languages, with Welsh presented first.
• Monthly contract monitoring meetings are held with the agency.

The Commissioner was satisfied with the steps we had taken to rectify and monitor the situation for the future and decided not to investigate further.

Promoting use of Welsh language

Events 

Over the last year, we have celebrated and promoted several Welsh language events virtually. We have worked closely with our Communications Team to promote Welsh language and culture both internally and externally. Here’s a list of events we have celebrated this year:

• 3 – 10 August 2024 – National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd
• 16 September 2024 – Diwrnod Owain Glyndŵr Day – Intranet and Viva engage articles
• 15 October 2024 – Diwrnod Shwmae - Sumae article on our intranet and sharing posters produced by Learn Welsh and Mentrau Iaith on our Viva Engage channels
• 25 November to 9 December 2024 - Defnyddia dy Gymraeg (This is the Welsh Language Commissioner’s campaign to promote the use of Welsh) –– 1st week we shared the promotional information provided by the Welsh Language Commissioner. 2nd week, we shared more information about the services NRW provide in Welsh and the training opportunities we have available. We interviewed a learner to see how they benefit from Welsh language training offered by NRW.
• 25 January 2025 - Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen – article on the intranet and Viva Engage channels 
• 3 February 2025 - Dydd Miwsig Cymraeg/Welsh Music Day – conversation on Viva Engage about Welsh music and bands
• 10 February 2025 – Chairing Bilingually and Hosting Bilingual Events Training for our Board and ET members. 
• 1 March 2025 - Dydd Gwyl Dewi – two webinars were held one in Welsh and one in English to promote what we have in place to support colleagues to work bilingually. Presentations were given by ICT, Communications Team on Branding and the use of our corporate Microsoft Teams backgrounds, Welsh language training available and the services of our translation team which included how to use Cysgeir.

Viva Engage channels 

Our Welsh Language Training co-ordinator regularly updates our Welsh language pages on our internal Viva Engage channels, sharing hints, tips, training recommendations and courses for colleagues as well as any interesting article in relation to the language. This is a great way to communicate informally with colleagues who are very responsive via this form of communication.

Managers Monthly

We use the Managers Monthly to raise awareness of new guidance, processes and procedures in relation to the Welsh language. Over this reporting year we have promoted:

• Managers Toolkit to help Managers be familiar with the requirements of our Welsh Language Standards Policy and their responsibility as Managers to ensure all their team carry out their day-to-day duties in accordance with the policy.
• Welsh Language Impact Assessment guidance and form.
• Dydd Gŵyl Dewi webinar
• Operational Guidance Note 124 – Naming sites and places and consulting with List of Historical Place Names 
• Welsh language considerations in procurement process guidance
• Welsh Language Awareness Training

List of Historic Place Names activity report 2024 to 2025

We have a statutory duty to consult and add to the List of Historic Place Names. We worked alongside the Welsh Language Commissioner Welsh Place Name Standardisation Panel and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) to develop internal guidance OGN 124 relating to our statutory duties.

We regularly contact the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Welsh Place-name Standardisation Panel for advice when:

• naming activities, for example woodlands, designated sites, area place names, character areas
• consulting the List of Historic Place Names for information or reference 
• acquiring place names that may not be on the List of Historic Place Names, for example purchase of new land with historic field names.

Over this reporting year we have:

Recorded place names decisions 

• Coed Abermarlais or Coed Brownhill 
• Coed Tynymynydd 
• Coed Bryn Crugog 
• Chwarel Maelwg 
• Ynys Sgomer  
• Enwau Sgomer (Placenames on Skomer Island) 
• Coedwig Penlle’r-gaer 
• Coed Pantperthog 
• Coed Cwm Cadian 
• Pont Ty'n-y-groes 
• Pont Cae'n-y-Coed 
• Comin Treteio 
• Dalar-wen 
• Gweunydd Nant y Twyn 
• Mynyddoedd Llangynidr a Llangatwg, Cefn yr Ystrad a Comin Merthyr 
• Coedwig Dyfi

Further place name related work

We also consulted the Welsh Language Commissioner Welsh Place-name Standardisation Panel for advice on the name of the proposed new National Park. 

Two proposed names were included in the public consultation which took place in the Autumn of 2024 asking for feedback:

• Parc Cenedlaethol Bryniau Clwyd a’r Berwyn National Park
• Parc Cenedlaethol Glyndŵr National Park

Respondents could also put forward their own option.

Names for new Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s) 

• One site was designated on 16/01/25 using the name recommended – Gweunydd Nant y Twyn. 

Networking and project work

Welsh Language Learning and Development Network

We were invited by Welsh Government to join this new Network which started to meet in January 2025. The Network is open to all public organisations and focusses on supporting learning and development opportunities through the medium of Welsh to their workforce. This also includes supporting development of Welsh language skills and capability. 

The Network was developed to share good practices, ideas, discuss issues and find ways to support one another with the aim of achieving the ambitions of Cymraeg 2050 Strategy and support the delivery of the Welsh Language Standards in terms of training provided.

Welsh Language Commissioner projects

We continue to work in partnership with other organisations on two projects as follows:

• A two-year project looking at ways of increasing the use of Welsh internally in public organisations. The project involves working collaboratively and sharing good practice and learning from other public sector organisations. The findings of this project will help us to develop an internal model to suit our vision in developing ourselves into a bilingual organisation and living our values. A conference has been organised by the Welsh Language Commissioner and the National Centre for Learning Welsh in July 2025 to share information and experiences from this project work.
• A project to encourage organisations to improve how to design and promote Welsh language services to increase their use. We identified our Floodwarning services as a service to actively promote as part of the project using our own networks and social media in raising awareness of the Welsh language service provided. Information on how we have promoted this service can be found on page 10 of this report. The Commissioner intends to write a report on the findings of the project and share good practice learnt. 

Forward look

Welsh Government Strategy - Cymraeg 2050 - A million Welsh speakers The ambition of the strategy is to see a million Welsh speakers by 2050 where people speak and use the Welsh language in all aspects of their lives. One of the three themes in the strategy is “Increasing the use of Welsh” the focus being on increasing the use of Welsh in the workplace, services and social use of Welsh.

To support the Welsh Governments ambition, The Welsh Language Commissioner's Strategic Plan 2025-30 focusses on ensuring that people can maintain and develop Welsh language skills and opportunities are given for people to use and speak the Welsh language in all aspects of their lives. 

One of the three themes in the strategy is around the workplace and in ensuring that Welsh speakers can use their language skills in the workplace on a daily basis. The Commissioners focus will be on supporting organisations to provide more opportunities and see an increase in the use of Welsh internally in public organisations across Wales.

To further support the ambition of Cymraeg 2050, the Introduction of the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill (15 July 2024) | GOV.WALES aims to see all pupils being able to leave school being able to speak Welsh confidently. The Bill will also provide targets in relation to the use of the language, including in the workplace and socially to help achieve the ambition of Cymraeg 2050.

The Bill also aims to bring consistency and a standard format for describing Welsh language ability based on the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). 

Developing a vision for the Welsh language in NRW

Following a discussion paper which went to our People and Customer Committee in September 2023 to seek views on our ambition and vision for the language as an organisation, we made a commitment in our Welsh Language Annual Report 2023-2024 that this work would be taken forward by a Task and Finish Group. Due to the Case for Change this work was postponed this year.

The group is to be tasked with developing NRW’s own ambition and vision for the language and its use internally, over and above discharging our statutory commitments in relation to the Welsh Language Standards. The group will look at best practice already established by other organisations to increase opportunities for Welsh speakers and learners to be able to use the language internally in their day-to-day work and provide colleagues with a choice of working through the medium of Welsh or English, mainstreaming the use of Welsh as a natural way of working in all our workplaces.

Whilst the work of the Task and Finish group was postponed, we have over this reporting year focussed on our internal Operational Standards and in being proactive in promoting the support and systems available for colleagues to use in Welsh. Along with a number of other initiatives as explained in this report to provide more opportunities for colleagues to use the Welsh language internally.

We will over this next year continue with this work and through our projects with the Commissioner.

Conclusion

Whilst this reporting year has been a period of change for the organisation, we are pleased with the progress we have continued to make in implementing our Welsh Language Standards.

We were very pleased to receive assurance from the Welsh Language Commissioner of high compliance with our Standards following their monitoring exercise of us as an organisation on this occasion. We will need to continue in being proactive in monitoring our compliance, promoting and raising awareness of the language and ensure it continues to be mainstreamed into all our work to maintain this standard.

Our headcount has reduced along with the numbers of Welsh speakers, but we are pleased to have been able to maintain the same percentage of Welsh speakers at all levels with 748 (32%) of our colleagues being able to discuss matters in Welsh at Levels, 3, 4 and 5, and 94% of our colleagues being able to show linguistic courtesy when meeting and greeting others.

The number developing their language skills have decreased which in the main has been due to the changes taking place internally. We will promote our training programme over the coming months and aim to increase the number who wish to develop their language skills. We will also look at more creative ways to support our learners in being able to practice and use their language skills within the workplace.

We have seen received complaints during this reporting year but pleased that we were able to address the issues raised and ensure that our colleagues, customers, partners receive the service they expected from us.

Over the coming year we will continue with our work in improving our Welsh language services and look for ways to increase their use through our collaboration on our project with the Welsh Language Commissioner and Centre for Public Digital Services, which focuses on this area.

Whilst our work in developing a vision for the Welsh language for the organisation was postponed during the year, we understand the importance of this work if we are to retain and attract Welsh speakers to the organisation. To do so the language needs to be part of our culture and natural ways of working, supporting our values, commitment made in our Corporate Plan as well as supporting Welsh Governments ambition for the language by 2050.

Appendix 1

Translation Team support and services

The Translation Team provide an invaluable and essential service to the organisation and without them a high percentage of the work highlighted above would be difficult to achieve. 

The Translation Team has been busy again this year supporting the organisation day to day with its Welsh language needs, co-operating on projects and communicating and coordinating constantly across NRW to ensure that the Welsh language is an important part of the organisation's work.

The team is slightly smaller than the previous year, with two members reducing their hours by one day a week. These two empty days, therefore, join the half post that was already empty - which means that the team is now almost one post short of the original model set for the service. The team is now as follows:

• Team Leader – full time
• Senior Translator – 0.8 full posts
• Translator - full time
• Translator – 0.8 full posts
• Translator – 0.5 full post
• Administrative Officer – full time

Nevertheless, continuing to make good use of our translation memory, Phrase Translate, which we have now had for around 2 years, the team has managed to thrive during a challenging year and answer the increasing demand in the light of the Case for Change and all related materials. Our translation memory now contains over 3 million words - meaning it has doubled in size over the past year.

The software allows us to carry out tasks that would have been impossible in the past – e.g. coping with the deluge of materials that came with the Case for Change - enabling everything to be published bilingually, translating 55,000 words of PowerPoint presentations in just three weeks for the Wales Coast Path, or translating the constant and rapid flow of applications from the recruitment department in the months following the restructuring. It must be noted that some of this work would not have been done in the past due to lack of capacity - internally or externally - resulting in much more material being available in Welsh. Much of this work has also been done within time limits that would not have been possible in the past – although that is not something the team are too keen to continue doing consistently in the future!

The team now manages to do the majority of the work that comes to us in-house – a goal that was set for us when the team was created in its current form some three years ago.

*Words translated internally / externally 2024-25

A total of 1,702,237 words were translated internally, and 981,282 externally - and this does not include the abundance of small tasks, a sentence or two long, that are received daily, nor - obviously - any work beyond translation, such as proofreading and checking.

*Total words translated internally / externally month by month 24/25

We will continue to promote our checking service and continue to encourage colleagues to use their Welsh and keep an eye on this statistic to see if there is progress in the coming years.

The team has continued to serve external bodies as well again this year, to the benefit of NRW. For example, work is carried out on specific projects for the Coal Board and the English Environment Agency.

Beyond our statistically measurable translation work, we have continued to contribute to a host of other work, including the process of naming trails and sites, and the process of proofreading and approving site signs and leaflets - we do this on various digital platforms for the convenience of our customers, ensuring a service that is as convenient as possible. The team also contributes by writing in pairs or trios - fishing license work and work for the digital team have taken advantage of this collaborative approach.

In the same way, by working with colleagues across the organisation, the team has continued to take advantage of every opportunity to work with different teams to create original Welsh texts, and advise colleagues on possibilities and alternatives in terms of including Welsh as an integral part of projects - this has led to podcasts, blogs, videos, poetry and prose from teams across the organisation.

A good example of this is our collaboration with Natur am Byth – we provide for their day-to-day translation needs, and this year there were discussions about the best way forward with some of their creative projects. We emphasized the importance of considering the Welsh language from the outset, explained that translation is not the answer to every situation, and worked with them to find a solution.

This led to a new procedure for considering the Welsh language when commissioning creative work, and for commissioning creative translations which means that the translation respects the original creative work and ensures that the Welsh language is treated equally with English. This is an example of the Translation Team knowing when to advise rather than settle for the Welsh always being a translation at the end of the process. We advised in a similar way on the Wales Coast Path project to translate and publish an entire travel book in Welsh.

Another part of our work is to contribute to the standardisation of terminology in the field of the environment and the natural world. To this end, the Team Leader has joined the Mentrau Iaith's Gwreiddiau Gwyllt project. He will coordinate the work of the Terminology Standardisation Panel, contributing to continuing the work of scholars to standardise terms for the Porth Termau and the Bywiadur. We believe it is appropriate for NRW to contribute prominently to work like this.

Finally, a word about our Simultaneous Translation service. 29 requests for a simultaneous translation service were made in the past year, with several requests for multiple events. Broadly the statistics were as follows: 15 requests for simultaneous translation on location, 10 requests for simultaneous translation over Teams, and 4 hybrid requests. Again, much of this work involved important consultation to ensure that an interpreter is arranged when one is needed – this includes trying to extend the service to ensure that officers do not have to present in English if they do not want to do so. An example of this was the Evidence Conference - EvCon - where a translator was provided for the first time enabling presentations in Welsh. There was a lot of positive feedback as a result of this. There was also positive feedback about the translation service in the significant meetings about the provision in our Visitor Centres - events where Welsh language provision was crucial.

So, the last year has indeed been challenging - but I can confidently say that the Translation Team has exceeded what was expected of it, extending its influence to assist colleagues, and helping to ensure that the Welsh language is a consideration in all the organisation's work. We understand the feedback about our service in the Enabling Services Review greatly supports.

 

Appendix 2

Welsh Language Training 2024-2025

Region	Learners 2024/25	Percentage
Cardiff	6	4%
Carmarthenshire	3	3%
Ceredigion/Powys	35	24%
Glamorgan	0	0%
Gwent	33	23%
North East	15	10%
North West	33	23%
Pembrokeshire	4	3%
Swansea Bay	7	5%
The Vale	6	4%
Cymraeg Gwaith (Self-taught option)	1	1%
Total	143	100%

Nant Gwrtheyrn 

21 NRW colleagues who have attended residential intensive courses provided by Nant Gwrtheyrn this year. These have not been included in the figures above.

Nant Gwrtheyrn offer intensive courses for all abilities and some of these fully funded through the Work Welsh scheme. 15 members of our colleagues took advantage of this scheme with great feedback received.

Nant Gwrtheyrn have recently released a few more dates for Work Welsh courses between April and July 2025 and we’ve had many people show an interest in these already!

Mark Bond from our Communications team vlogged his time at Nant Gwrtheyrn and this has now been included on the Learn Welsh website.

Ask Mark | Learn Welsh

 

Say Something in Welsh

Say Something in Welsh (SSiW) is a subscription we have offer to all our colleagues, whether they are on permanent or on short terms contacts. It is also a learning method encouraged by Learn Welsh. We also offer this as a stop gap for colleagues that are waiting to register for a Learn Welsh course.

Due to this, SSiW figures have not been included in the above stats as some learners that have registered for Mynediad/Entry courses have also registered for SSiW.

We currently have 11 learners enrolled on Say Something in Welsh.

 

Headcount March 2024 = 2356 – Number and percentage of fluent Welsh speakers in March 2025 = 556 (24%)

Headcount March 2024 = 2448 – Number and percentage of fluent Welsh speakers in March 2024 = 580 (24%)

Headcount March 2023 = 2346 – Number and percentage of fluent Welsh speakers in March 2023 = 571 (24.3%)

Headcount March 2022 = 2259 – Number and percentage of fluent Welsh speakers in March 2022 = 555 (24.6%)

Headcount February 2021 = 2237 – Number and percentage of fluent Welsh speakers in February 2021 = 535 (24%)

Headcount March 2020 = 2051 – Number and percentage of fluent Welsh speakers in March 2020 = 486 (23.7%)

 

Welsh Language Skills by Directorate – March 2025

Directorate	No return Completed	No understanding of Welsh	Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	Able to discuss some work matters confidently	Fluency in spoken Welsh	Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	Grand Total
CCC	16 (8%)	6 (6%)	56 (28%)	33 (16%)	15 (7%)	17 (8%)	53 (27%)	196
CSD	3	1	14	26	4	8	16	72
EPP	7	20	297	153	60	46	74	657
FCS	3	16	82	35	15	14	21	186
OPS	34	45	530	231	98	126	181	1245
Total	63	88	979	478	192	211	345	2356

Welsh language skills by Age profile March 2025

Age	No return Completed	No understanding of Welsh	Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	Able to discuss some work matters confidently	Fluency in spoken Welsh	Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	Grand Total
<25	1	1	8	3	3	1	6	23
26-35	11	19	148	56	26	34	102	396
36-45	13	24	243	145	57	66	95	643
46-55	15	19	326	163	55	66	72	716
156-65	17	24	236	102	45	36	60	520
65+	6	1	18	9	6	8	10	58
Total	63	88	979	478	192	211	345	2356

 

Welsh language skills by gender – Full-Time/Part-Time Employees March 2025

Gender	No return Completed	No understanding of Welsh	Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	Able to discuss some work matters confidently	Fluency in spoken Welsh	Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	Grand Total
Female	28	43	438	251	93	89	158	1100
FT	23	32	339	182	71	63	118	828
PT	5	11	99	69	22	26	40	272
Male	35	45	541	227	99	122	187	1256
FT	29	41	494	210	92	105	177	1148
PT	6	4	47	17	7	17	10	108
Total	63	88	979	478	192	211	345	2356

 

Welsh language skills by each grade March 2025

Grade	No return Completed	No understanding of Welsh	Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	Able to discuss some work matters confidently	Fluency in spoken Welsh	Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	Grand Total
APP	-	-	4	-	-	2	-	6
G1	1	-	-	1	1	1	1	5
G2	5	8	26	11	6	6	14	76
G3	3	5	44	14	4	12	28	110
G4	11	8	139	51	15	43	65	332
G5	12	27	255	100	55	55	89	593
G6	8	21	237	160	49	49	68	592
G7	2	10	147	85	40	26	39	349
G8	2	2	79	36	13	11	22	165
G9	3	2	33	15	7	6	8	74
G10	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	2
G11	1	3	11	3	-	1	7	26
SPOT	4	2	2	2	1	1	1	13
CX	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
NED	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	11
Total	63	88	979	478	292	213	343	2356

 

Welsh language skills of new starters and leavers March 2025

Type	No return Completed	No understanding of Welsh	Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	Able to discuss some work matters confidently	Fluency in spoken Welsh	Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	Grand Total
Starters	0	2	5	1	0	0	1	9
Leavers	4	10	67	18	12	14	23	148