Welsh Language Standards Annual Report for 1 August 2022-31 July 2023

This Annual Report refers to the period between 1 August 2022 and 31 July 2023 and details how the Welsh Language Standards are implemented at Swansea University.

The report outlines the steps put in place by the University to ensure Compliance with the Welsh Language Standards. The report also highlights recent developments and outlines objectives for 2023-24. A copy of Swansea University's Compliance Notice can be found here.

The period 2022-23 saw new Welsh language stuctures being embedded at the University, following the publication of Stepping Forward: Swansea University’s Welsh Language and Culture Strategy 2022-27 and the expansion of the scope of Academi Hywel Teifi to include the Translation and Language Compliance Unit. The new structure has presented opportunities to collaborate for the benefit of the University's bilingualism, by bringing together Welsh-medium educational provision, the translation service, Welsh language compliance, and the Welsh language experiences of our stakeholders.

During the year, the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer focused on the following goals:

• Ensuring that the University's staff recruitment processes continued to include Welsh language skills at the right level in all advertised positions, and that departments planned this strategically. As a result, there was a slight increase in the number of level 3 positions advertised and filled, and a significant increase in the number of level 1 positions. A pilot was undertaken with the marketing department to issue a Welsh language skills questionnaire to all staff in the department, and it is hoped that the same exercise will be carried out in other departments soon.
• Reviewing and strengthening the internal Welsh language compliance monitoring framework and identifying opportunities to evaluate progress. A new process is now in place for monitoring the faculties, with the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer attending Faculty Operating Board meetings to discuss compliance issues. A review of the monitoring processes of professional services units is underway, with the aim of developing this further in the coming year.
• Continuing to monitor and review how University staff use their Welsh language skills and ensuring support for them to do so. Further information can be found in the Training section of this report.
• Working closely with the Student Union's Welsh Affairs Officer and the wider Students' Union to ensure that their work supports the University's Welsh language objectives and strategy. During the year, the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer supported the Student Union’s Welsh Affairs Officer in writing the Union's Welsh Language Policy, and the policy is now operational.

Since Summer 2022, Academi Hywel Teifi is made up of the following three units:

• Academic and Creative Provision Unit – which comprises the Swansea University Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and Tŷ'r Gwrhyd, the Welsh Language Centre in Pontardawe
• Learn Welsh - Swansea Bay Area – part of the National Centre for Learning Welsh
• The Translation and Language Compliance Unit – which includes the University's Welsh translators and the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer.

The Welsh Language Strategy Committee ensures that the objectives outlined in Swansea University's Welsh Language and Culture Strategy are progressed, as well as the development of Welsh-medium education at the University. The Committee, which meets monthly, is chaired by Professor Gwenno Ffrancon, Director of Academi Hywel Teifi. Members of the committee include the heads of the three Academi Hywel Teifi units listed above, along with the Welsh Language Academic Leads from the three Faculties, and the Welsh Language Strategy Project Officer. The committee acts as a specialist advisor to Swansea University's Senior Leadership Team, recommending changes to the overall strategy, or individual initiatives, in order to increase the likelihood of achieving the University's strategic objectives. The committee oversees the work of Academi Hywel Teifi, the Swansea Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and compliance with the Welsh Language Standards as well as raising awareness of the relevance and importance of the Welsh language to the University.

The role of the University’s Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer, Nia Besley, is to promote, facilitate, support and monitor the implementation of the Welsh Language Standards. The Policy and Compliance Officer is a member of the University's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Macsen Davies is the Student Union’s full-time Welsh Affairs Officer. He chairs a forum every term for Welsh-medium students in his Student Union role, but also in his capacity as Chair of the Swansea Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Student Forum.

Each faculty now has a Welsh Language Lead. The Welsh Language Leads are responsible for coordinating the faculty's Welsh-medium academic provision as well as overseeing the implementation of the Welsh Language Standards in the context of students' experiences in the faculty. Work is now underway to further embed the Welsh language in the operating processes and strategies of the faculties.

The University’s Welsh Language and Culture Strategy has been in place since June 2022 and the past year has involved embedding the strategy in the University's processes and culture. The Strategy is based on four key pillars, namely our University Culture, the Learner Experience, Embedding Welsh across the University, and Supporting our Research and Civic Mission. Here are some of the highlights of the past year in relation to the four pillars:

Our University Culture

The main aim of this pillar is to ensure that our University is home to a welcoming and thriving, multilingual and multicultural community of students and staff.

When taking up a post at the University, each new member of staff receives an induction session which includes an introduction to the Welsh language and to the Welsh Language Standards, signposting opportunities to learn more. The session is also available in Welsh. Work is currently underway to create a language awareness e-module that will be available to all University staff bilingually. The intention is to make the module mandatory for all University staff.

During 2022-23, a review of the University's translation services was commissioned with the aim of ensuring that the unit offered the best service to support the University's Welsh-language objectives as well as compliance with the Standards. A series of recommendations were received and the University is in the process of implementing a number of them. The University will report on the impact of the changes in the 2023-24 annual report.

To support staff in sharing and making use of their Welsh language skills in the workplace, the above developments include promoting a proof-reading service for all University staff.

There are opportunities for staff to meet other Welsh language staff, including informal sessions, lunch and learn sessions where Welsh priorities are discussed with academic and administrative staff, and the Coleg Cymraeg forums. These are all open to all University staff.

The Welsh rights of students are promoted at certain times of the year. Firstly, when they enroll in September and again on specific days such as Shw' Mae Day, Welsh Language Commissioner Promotion Day(s), St David's Day etc. Information has also been shared frequently on the Academi Hywel Teifi website and on social media.

In collaboration with Swansea University's Students' Union, the University's Aelwyd yr Urdd, Aelwyd yr Elyrch, meets regularly to provide opportunities for our Welsh-medium students to develop skills and socialise through the medium of Welsh. The Aelwyd competed in the Urdd Eisteddfod in Carmarthenshire in 2023, and they recently took part in an evening celebrating the Success of the poet Professor Alan Llwyd at the 2023 Boduan National Eisteddfod.

In 2023, the University developed a new Cultural Strategy and an Operating Board was established in order to implement the strategy. The Board includes representation from Academi Hywel Teifi and Welsh language considerations will be a core element of its implementation.

The Learner Experience

The University supports students who study elements of their course through the medium of Welsh or who choose to be assessed in Welsh. Through access to the PowerBi dashboard the University has a live record of the numbers of students studying through the medium of Welsh and in which subject areas. The dashboard also provides information on the number of students who can speak Welsh, and to what level, and also has the same information for University staff.

A Welsh-medium Academic Skills Tutor has been appointed during 2022-23 who is available for 1:1 appointments with students as well as group sessions and specific sessions on the modules of various course programmes. Sessions include critical thinking, essay writing, effective use of literature, time management and more. Furthermore, an employability course is available in Welsh to students on Canvas, the University's e-learning platform, and this includes a specific module on working in a bilingual workplace.

Staff and students are offered the opportunity annually to complete the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Language Skills Certificate. During 2022-23, 12 people completed the certificate, including 3 members of staff.

The year also marked the tenth year of the Swansea Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg  and a newsletter recording the developments was published. In addition to this, awards were held to celebrate the contributions that students and staff have made to the progress of the Welsh language at the University.

During the year, new processes and guidance were created for staff in respect of promoting and welcoming requests by students to be assessed through the medium of Welsh, in accordance with Standard 90. We ensured that all faculties were aware of the processes and how to respond to a request from a student to be assessed through the medium of Welsh.

Embedding Welsh across the University

The objectives of this pillar outline how the University will comply with and exceed the requirements of the Welsh Language Standards regulations.

During the year, the University's Internal Use of Welsh Policy was reviewed, and a new internal policy based on ten core principles was published. The Use of Welsh at Work Policy states that the University will:

1. Encourage and support students, staff and others who come into contact with the University to use Welsh.
2. Provide opportunities to use Welsh by proactively promoting the University's Welsh language services and enabling all members of the University community to build meaningful relationships with the language and its culture.
3. Ensure that the services we deliver in accordance with the requirements of the Welsh Language Standards will be of equal quality in both Welsh and English – by being equally visible, equally easy to use and equally effective.
4. Record the choice of language (Welsh or English) of our staff, students and alumni. Correspondence and services are provided for them in accordance with that language choice.
5. Verify that our staff recruitment policies and systems ensure that bilingual capacity is consistently available across a range of University services and departments.
6. Ensure that our policies, plans and projects give full and fair consideration, and provide a central and natural place, to the Welsh language from their inception so that the status and use of Welsh is not undermined.
7. Ensure a range of opportunities and encouragement for our staff to develop and strengthen their Welsh language skills, with the aim of increasing the use of Welsh in University workplaces.
8. Provide opportunities for our students to study through the medium of Welsh and to receive support to do so.
9. Use research expertise to plan proactively and progressively in a way that benefits the use of Welsh within the University and more widely.
10. Record decisions, processes, successes and complaints relevant to the Welsh language.

Supporting our research and civic mission

We are an organisation that values every opportunity to collaborate with a variety of partners and we have again collaborated with a number of these during 2022-23. Effective local collaboration has taken place with the Mentrau Iaith in our local area on projects which support social opportunities for Welsh students and learners and also in providing spaces or opportunities where our learners (staff, students and members of the public) can use/practise the Welsh language. We collaborated with Urdd Gobaith Cymru on the GwyddonLe and with the Welsh Peace Academy on various activities and projects.

During the course of the year our Welsh Centre in the Swansea Valley, Tŷ'r Gwrhyd, worked hard to fully reopen to community groups following the Covid lockdowns and to provide Welsh-medium books and educational resources through its shop.

The focus of the work in 2023-24 will turn to research developments.

The Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer continues to promote the service delivery standards and train staff on the requirements, as well as monitoring compliance, in a variety of ways: internal e-communication mechanisms, new staff induction sessions, bespoke departmental sessions and specific training. The Officer also works with the student body to ensure that students understand their rights.

During the year, the University's monitoring processes were strengthened, starting with the faculties. The faculty's annual self-monitoring process is continuing, but alongside this the Policy and Compliance Officer maintains a log for each faculty which includes the findings of not only the self-assessment questionnaire, but also monitoring by the Policy and Compliance Officer as well as any feedback or complaints received. The log outlines the broad category (e.g. correspondence) along with a target date for each issue specified. The plan for this year is to review monitoring processes for the professional services units.

All new policies and strategies are subject to Equality Impact Assessment ("EqIA") processes. Each EqIA form includes a section on the Welsh language. Case studies form part of the form template to aid the process of fully considering the Welsh language implications. The University's Equality team works with the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer to analyse draft EqIA forms so that early intervention can be made in the decision-making process, as needed. The Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer keeps a record of all assessments that have been carried out.

As a result of Academi Hywel Teifi’s Director having been a member of the University's Senior Professional Services Management Team since Summer 2022, it is now possible to hear earlier about any proposed changes and provide early intervention in any policy modifications.

The following Equality and Welsh Language Impact Assessments were completed during the period: Extended Study Policy for PhD students, Assessment, Marking and Feedback Policy, Fieldwork Policy, Postgraduate Student Maternity/Paternity Policy, Global Mobility Policy, Electric Car Policy, University’s Digital Strategy, Student Employability Policy, Policy regarding children on University premises and Secondment Policy.

Following the publication of the revised internal Use of Welsh at Work Policy, efforts are now being made to promote the policy amongst our staff.

All new employees who indicate, when offered, that they would like a Welsh-medium interview, and current staff members who state when asked that Welsh is their preferred language, will receive an employment agreement in Welsh, as well as individually addressed correspondence relating to their employment.

Staff are able to note their preferred language on the human resources system, ABW, and this record is checked when corresponding with staff. Staff will be informed, through training from the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer and guidance on the staff intranet, how this information can be verified and updated.

All job applicants are asked about their Welsh language skills, and the information provided is fed into the human resources system if the individual is appointed. Members of staff can update their Welsh language skills levels themselves in the human resources system, and are reminded to do this as part of the training provided by the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer and guidance on the University's staff intranet. Staff are also encouraged to update this information as they improve their Welsh language skills.

Also, opportunities for staff to communicate with each other in Welsh have recently been strengthened through the creation of a Welsh badge for members of staff's Outlook profile (dark orange for fluent speakers, or light orange for intermediate speakers – the member of staff chooses the level they would like to use). The new badge was promoted to all University staff, and the Policy Officer ensured that all relevant staff received the badge along with instructions on how to upload it. Non-Welsh speaking staff were also given an explanation as to the purpose of the badge, and learners were encouraged to try using their Welsh when they see the badge. The Policy Officer ensures that any new member of staff receives the badge when they start.

Administrative staff (Total 2115)

*The option not to say has now been removed from the system

** Although there is no option for new staff not to share information about their Welsh language ability, the system continues to include historic data for staff members who have not updated their record, although they receive invitations to update the record.

Academic Staff (Total 1716)

Comparison of the percentage of Welsh speakers between the 2021-22 report and the 2022-23 report in terms of Welsh speaking skills  :

Administrative staff

Academic staff

The number of staff with fluent or intermediate Welsh language skills were fairly static over the year. There has been a slight increase in the number of staff who identify as speaking a little Welsh. This may reflect the efforts being made to promote basic Welsh language courses among University staff.

Swansea University welcomes feedback on any aspect of Welsh at the University. The Welsh Language Complaints Procedure is available on the University's website.

No complaints were received during the period under review.

The Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer offers the following courses to staff free of charge:

• A 1-hour "Welsh Language Basics" course introducing the history of the Welsh language, common Welsh words and phrases, and the basics of pronunciation. During 2022-23, 73 members of staff completed this course.
• An 1-hour course detailing the compliance requirements of the Welsh Language Standards. During 2022-23, 18 members of staff completed this course.
• In addition to these, all new staff are given an introduction to the Welsh language by the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer as part of the staff induction programme. During 2022-23, 562 members of staff received this introduction to Welsh at the University (English sessions). This full induction course is also available in Welsh. 5 members of staff completed the induction through the medium of Welsh

Beyond the Welsh Language Basics course, we maximise the close ties the University has with the Learn Welsh Swansea Bay Unit to deliver courses at all levels to staff, and in some cases to students. Below is an outline of the provision offered during the period under review.

1. Courses in the community (mainstream provision):

During 2022-23 staff were able to take advantage of a special discount code to receive their Learn Welsh community course free of charge when they registered using the University's email address. The following table shows how many staff completed the community courses per level. 

2. Workplace Courses

The following table shows how many staff completed workplace courses, including courses tailored to specific cohorts of students and staff in departments:

In 2022-23 Education and Health Improvement Wales stated that students on Healthcare courses needed to have their Welsh language skills assessed.  A percentage of students were therefore assessed in face-to-face sessions or by email / questionnaire. The skills of 460 / 594 students (77%)  were assessed.

3. Higher Education Welsh at Work Courses (September 2022 – March 2023)

The scheme is funded by the National Centre for Learning Welsh, and administered by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol in collaboration with Academi Hywel Teifi, delivered by Learn Welsh Swansea Bay:

Since April 2023 a new round of Welsh at Work courses has started, so for the Summer Term 2023 the following numbers were registered on the courses:

 
Beyond the official sessions, Welsh language awareness and language sessions are also held in a less formal manner on request, and informal opportunities for Welsh-speaking staff at all levels to come together to use their Welsh are provided on a regular basis.

When creating a new position or filling a vacancy, an assessment is undertaken of the Welsh language skills required for that position.

Here is an outline of the jobs advertised during the period, along with the Welsh skills levels required:

During the year under review, the University undertook a review of its recruitment and staff appointment processes and ensured that consideration was given to the Welsh language in this process. This work is currently ongoing.

2022-23 has been a positive year for the Welsh language at Swansea University, and the University's Welsh language structures have been strengthened and refreshed through the purposeful restructuring of Academi Hywel Teifi and the new Stepping Forward strategy.

During 2023-24, the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer will focus primarily on:

• Completing the development of a Welsh language awareness e-module for all University staff
• Continuing to strengthen internal monitoring processes
• Strengthening Welsh language workforce planning to meet service requirements
• Supporting the translation service redesign

More information about the University's commitment to the Welsh language can be found on the following page: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/welsh-language-standards/ 

Alternatively, you can contact the Welsh Language Policy and Compliance Officer: welshcompliance@swansea.ac.uk

This report is published in accordance with Standards 166, 172 and 178.