Seasonal update on the work of the Programme Board for the Implementation of the Welsh Language and Education Act.
This is the first of seasonal updates on the work of the Board.
The Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Act 2025 received royal assent on 7 July 2025. The Act places the Welsh Government target of reaching at least 1 million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050 on a statutory basis. The Act provides for changes in the education sector, in the workplace and in wider society and requires Welsh Ministers, local authorities and schools and settings to plan and to act in accordance with those changes.
The Programme for the Implementation of the Welsh Language and Education Act was established by civil servants in the Welsh Government's Cymraeg 2050 division in Autumn 2025 to oversee the establishment of the arrangements required by the Act at Welsh Government level. The programme will oversee the:
- production and publication of the revised Welsh Language Strategy
- production and publication the National Framework for Welsh Language Education and Learning Welsh (including arrangements for implementation)
- production and publication of the Code to describe ability in Welsh based on the CEFR (including arrangements to establish its use)
- establishment the National Institute for Learning Welsh to become operational on 1 August 2027
The Programme Board for the Implementation of the Welsh Language and Education Act was established and held its first meeting in October 2025. The members of the board, who are key stakeholders, provide strategic direction, oversight, control, assurance and challenge to support the work of the programme.
The programme includes 5 projects:
- Project 1: The Welsh Language Strategy
- Project 2: The National Framework for Welsh Language Education and Teaching Welsh
- Project 3: The Code to describe ability in Welsh
- Project 4: Implementing the National Framework for Welsh Language Education and Teaching Welsh
- Project 5: Establishment of the National Institute for Learning Welsh
Alongside the projects noted above, 2 workstreams have been established to support this work:
- the subordinate legislation workstream, which involves preparing commencement orders and regulations
- the communication and stakeholder management workstream
In its meeting on 21 October 2025 the programme was introduced to the members of the board, including the programme initiation document and the terms of reference.
During its second meeting on 10 December 2025 the above documents along with a proposed governance structure for the programme were approved. The programme lead offered a strategic overview of the programme and project and workstream leads presented reports on their work. The main agenda item in that meeting was a presentation on the communication plan for the implementation of the Act.
In the board’s meeting on 28 January 2026 the programme level workplan including key milestones were put before the board.
In its meeting on 5 March 2026 project leads gave updates on their work and a presentation was given on the possible statistical paths for reaching a million Welsh speakers by 2050.
The next 3 meetings will be held between June 2026 and September 2026 and will lead up to the consultation on the strategy, the framework and the Code that will be held in November 2026.
The date of the next meeting is 4 June 2026 and progress on project work will be among the main items on the agenda.