Wales

Wales is one of the four home nations of the United Kingdom:

1. England
2. Scotland
3. Wales
4. Northern Ireland

For general information see United Kingdom.

However, education is devolved by the UK government to the four home nations so that many details are specific to the home nation involved.

For entities in Wales see Category:Wales

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by Paul Bacsich, Sero

Partners and Experts in Wales

There are no partners based in Wales. However, Sero has done work in Wales, in particular for benchmarking e-learning.

There is not currently an IAC member for Wales.

Wales in a nutshell

(Sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales)

Wales (Welsh: Cymru) is a country that is part (one of the four home nations) of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west.

Wales has a population just under 3 million (http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/population2010/101027/?lang=en), and a total area of 20,779 km² (8,023 sq mi). Its capital is Cardiff.

Wales has over 1,200 km (746 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands; the largest, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), is also the largest island in the Irish Sea. Generally mountainous, its highest mountains are in the north and central areas, especially in Snowdonia (Eryri), which contains Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest peak.

For the purposes of local government, Wales has been divided into 22 council areas since 1996. These "unitary authorities" are responsible for the provision of all local government services.

In 2011, Wales' population was estimated to have risen to over 3 million for the first time (mid 2010 estimate: 3,006,400). Data from the last census (2001) reported the population in Wales as 2,903,085.

The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and surrounding areas, with another significant population in the north-east around Wrexham. Most non-white groups in Wales are concentrated in the southern port cities of Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. Welsh Asian and African communities developed mainly through immigration since the Second World War.[204] In the early 21st century, parts of Wales saw an increased number of immigrants settle from recent EU accession countries such as Poland; though a 2007 study showed a relatively low number of employed immigrant workers from the former Eastern bloc countries in Wales compared to other regions of the United Kingdom.

In the 2001 Labour Force Survey, 72% of adults in Wales considered their national identity as wholly Welsh and another 7% considered themselves to be partly Welsh (Welsh and British were the most common combination). A recent study estimated that 35% of the Welsh population have surnames of Welsh origin. Just over 1.75 million Americans report themselves to have Welsh ancestry, as did 440,965 Canadians in Canada's 2006 census.

Official languages of Wales

The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the English and Welsh languages be treated on a basis of equality. English is spoken by almost all people in Wales and is the de facto main language. "Code-switching" is common in all parts of Wales and is known by various terms, though none is recognised by professional linguists. "Wenglish" is the Welsh English language dialect. It has been influenced significantly by Welsh grammar and includes words derived from Welsh.

Northern and western Wales retain many areas where Welsh is spoken as a first language by the majority of the population, and English learnt as a second language. The 2001 census showed 582,400 people, 20.8% of the Welsh population, were able to speak Welsh, an increase from the 19.0% shown in the 1981 census. According to language surveys conducted in 2004 and 2006, that number has dropped slightly to 20.5%, and the number of fluent speakers dropped by 3% between 1992 and 2006. Although monoglotism in young children continues, life-long monoglotism in Welsh is recognised to be a thing of the past.

Road signs in Wales are generally in both English and Welsh; where place names differ in the two languages, both versions are used (e.g. "Cardiff" and "Caerdydd"). The decision as to which is placed first is that of the local authority.

Education in Wales

(Sourced from a surprisingly brief Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Wales)

Education in Wales differs in certain respects from education elsewhere in the United Kingdom. For example, a significant number of students all over Wales are educated either wholly or largely through the medium of Welsh: in 2008/09, 22 per cent of classes in maintained primary schools used Welsh as the sole or main medium of instruction. Welsh medium education is available to all age groups through nurseries, schools, colleges and universities and in adult education; lessons in the language itself are compulsory for all pupils until the age of 16.

Since devolution, education policy in the four constituent countries of the UK has diverged. In particular while England has pursued reforms based on diversity of school types and parental choice, Wales (and Scotland) remain more committed to the concept of the community-based comprehensive school. Systems of governance and regulation - the arrangements for planning, funding, quality-assuring and regulating learning, and for its local administration - are becoming increasingly differentiated across the four home nations .

Education is compulsory beginning with the term following the child's fifth birthday, but may take place at either home or school. Most parents choosing to educate through school-based provision, however, enrol their children in the reception year in September of that school year, with most children thus beginning school at age four or four and a half. A child's age on the 1 September determines the point of entry into the relevant stage of education.

Primary education

In 2008/09 there were 1,478 primary schools in Wales with 258,314 pupils and 12,343 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers. The pupil/teacher ratio was 20 and the average class size was 24.4 pupils.

Secondary Education

Pupils in secondary school take part in the compulsory GCSE and the non-compulsory A-level qualifications at age 16 and 18 respectively. Since 2007 the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification has also been available as an option. In 2008/09 there were 223 secondary schools in Wales with 205,421 pupils and 12,535 FTE teachers. The pupil/teacher ratio was 16.4.

Further Education

Further education (FE) includes full- and part-time learning for people over compulsory school age, excluding higher education. FE and publicly-funded training in Wales is provided by 24 FE institutions and a range of public, private and voluntary sector training providers, such as the Workers' Educational Association. Colleges vary in size and mission, and include general FE, tertiary and specialist institutions, including one Roman Catholic Sixth Form College and a residential adult education college. Many colleges offer leisure learning and training programmes designed to meet the needs of business. In 2008/09 there were 236,780 FE students in Wales.

Higher Education

Students normally enter higher education (HE) from 18 onwards. All undergraduate education is largely state-financed (with Welsh students contributing £1,255), and students are generally entitled to student loans for maintenance. The state does not control syllabi, but it does influence admission procedures and monitors standards through the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.

The typical first degree offered at Welsh universities is the Bachelor's degree, typically taking three years to complete full-time. Some institutions offer an undergraduate Master's degree as a first degree, typically lasting four years. During a first degree students are known as undergraduates. Some universities offer a vocationally-based Foundation degree, typically two years in length.

Overall there are at present (2011) 10 HE institutions in Wales of which one (the University of Glamorgan)i runs the one music conservatoire, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. The number of separate universities (though not the number of students) is declining and is set to decline further as various foreseen mergers take place.

In 2008/09 there were 146,465 enrolments at HE institutions in Wales, including 66,645 undergraduates and 23,260 postgraduates. Welsh HE institutions had a total of 8,840 academic staff.

Adult Community Learning

Adult Community learning is a form of adult education or lifelong learning delivered and supported by local authorities in Wales. Programmes can be formal or informal, non-accredited or accredited, and vocational, academic or leisure orientated In 2008/09 there were 57,170 learners in Community Learning.

Higher Education

Higher Education in Wales is overseen by HEFCW, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.

Its mission is to:

promote internationally excellent higher education in Wales, for the benefit of individuals, society and the economy, in Wales and more widely.

On 12 October 2007 HEFCW released its consultation document Enhancing Learning and Teaching through Technology: a Strategy for Higher Education in Wales. This describes 13 Indicators of Success, seven short term and six long term, spread across five categories.

Higher Education in Wales is delivered via 11 distinct universities and higher education colleges in Wales, plus the Open University in Wales, as well as via a number of further education colleges that offer higher education courses. Funding is provided for the following:

1. Aberystwyth University
2. Bangor University
3. Cardiff University
4. University of Glamorgan
5. University of Wales, Lampeter
6. University of Wales, Newport
7. NEWI - North East Wales Institute
8. University of Wales, Swansea
9. Swansea Institute of Higher Educationm soon to be Swansea Metropolitan University
10. Trinity College, Carmarthen
11. UWIC - University of Wales Institute, Cardiff

(Note that the Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama is now a subsidiary of the University of Glamorgan although it retains its own "Royal" name.)

Funding is also provided for:

• University of Wales Registry
• The Open University in Wales

There are seven HEIs who are or were involved in the Higher Education Academy Benchmarking programme:

• University of Wales, Aberystwyth (Phase 2) - with blog
• University of Wales, Bangor (Phase 2) - with blog
• University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (Pilot) - with blog
• University of Glamorgan (Phase 1) - with blog
• University of Wales, Lampeter (Phase 2)
• University of Wales, Newport, based in Newport and Caerleon (Phase 2) - with blog
• Trinity College, Carmarthen (Phase 1) - with blog (though apparently only one entry)

They divide into methodology clusters as follows:

ELTI	UWIC
eMM	Aberystwyth, Bangor
MIT90s	Glamorgan
OBHE	Lampeter, Trinity
Pick&Mix	Newport

Thus Wales is a microcosm of England, in this regard at least.

There have been informal discussions in Wales about setting up a Welsh benchmarking club for HEIs.

Further Education

Post-16 education in Wales is overseen by ELWA.

The JISC Regional Support Centre in Wales - RSC Wales - is active in supporting e-learning including in the ACL area (called PCDL in England) - and more specifically, to:

• deliver e-learning support to Voluntary and Community Learning Providers
• increase the use of e-learning by developing skills and knowledge
• broker or provide training and expertise to the ACL sector

In 2005 ELWA commissioned a report from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action on Barriers to growth in the use of learning technology in the voluntary sector - of which an Executive Summary is public.

Conclusions

From the benchmarking and other information it seems clear that the only higher education institution which may be regarded as having a Virtual Campus is:

• University of Glamorgan

Some other universities including Bangor University have or had smaller-scale initiatives.

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