Wrexham: Pupils drop Welsh-medium education over transport - claim

A-level students at Wrexham's only Welsh-medium high school have no transport help

Children in Wrexham are opting to study in English rather than Welsh due to transport inequality, it is claimed.

North Wales Member of the Senedd (MS) Llyr Gruffydd said at least 10 pupils have rejected studying at the city's only Welsh-medium secondary school because of transport issues.

Wrexham council does not have to fund post-16 education transport but a local college with courses in English does.

Parents and students at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd called that unfair.

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Poor public transport means Ifan Davies depends on family and friends to take him the 18 miles from his home in Dolywern, in the Ceiriog Valley, to Ysgol Morgan Llwyd.

Ifan studies music, chemistry, physics and biology but has daily concerns over how he will get home from school

But his schoolwork is suffering because of the daily pressure of organising lifts back and forth from school.

In contrast, his fellow students at Coleg Cambria - which offers A-levels in English - can hop on a free bus provided by the college.

'Worrying about how I'd get home'

"It's unfair that it's so easy if you choose English-medium, and the college is just 10 minutes down the road from my sixth form," he said.

"It affected me today. The last lesson was physics, and I couldn't do the work because I was worrying about how I'd get home."

Nia Lederle says there is a lack of support for Welsh-medium A-level students

In Rossett, north of Wrexham, Nia Lederle shares the same concerns about access to Welsh-medium education.

Her daughter Catrin is also at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd's sixth form, and has to pay to go on the public bus there, while neighbours who have opted for education in English get to travel for free.

"It doesn't seem fair," she said. "The council supports Welsh-medium schools, a new Welsh primary school has just opened in September. But the support isn't there to help children go on to do A-levels in Welsh."

Mr Gruffydd said the "political" decision not to fund post-16 transport to the school undermines the local authority's own plan for using Welsh in education.

"The council has a strategic ambition to grow Welsh-medium education in the county, so if they are serious about it, then they need to provide transport," he said.

Wrexham council said it understood concerns raised and was doing "everything it can" to resolve the matter.