I am teaching myself Welsh via this site and with books, CD’s etc. I’d like to study for an exam of some kind but I do not have the time to go out to classes as I have 3 young children. I would appreciate any advice on what exams I could do and how I might go about applying to sit them as an external student.
Diolch yn fawr!!
I’m not aware of any beginner level exams that can be taken as an external student, but Bangor University offers intermediate and advanced levels https://www.bangor.ac.uk/cio/dl.php.en
Are you in Wales? You could try contacting your nearest Welsh for Adults Centre to see what they suggest. They have beginner level exams but generally expect you to be attending a class.
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Hi Dee. Thanks for your advice. I have just discovered that we do have a Welsh for Adults service in Newport so I dropped them a line today.
Thanks again
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I bumped into a local Welsh for Adults tutor tonight actually so I asked her what the procedure is for people wanting to sit the Mynediad exam without going to classes and she believes it’s possible. It’s good you’ve contacted them already as she said the closing date is probably not far off for putting your name in though. The actual exam isn’t until June I think.
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If you live in Newport (Casnewydd) the Welsh classes are run through Coleg Gwent, Pontypŵl. The Welsh for adults department would be happy to answer your question about examinations. They are promoting the exams at the moment. The telephone number is 01495 333710.
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I looked into doing the Mynediad exam before Xmas (but I ended up not pursuing it as I had a bit much on). I got a candidate booklet though from the WJEC for the Mynediad Level exam 029 2026 5007 welshforadults@wjec.co.uk. THere are 2 exams in June: Thursday evening 9 June or Friday 10 June are the dates I got here in front of me; the cut off date to register for the 2 of them is 26 February 2016.
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I’ve just found out about the Uwch exam, and the closing date is something like 26 February (so I need to make a decision about it sharpish). I would expect the Mynediad exam is going to have a similar date.
The exams are administered by CBAC/WJEC, and the information is available on their website. The Mynediad page is here:
http://www.wjec.co.uk/qualifications/welsh-for-adults/welsh-for-adults-entry/
and there appears to be a link to download the exam booklet in pdf form - this will have all the criteria for the exam, the closing date, and the local centre where you need to submit an application.
Pob lwc!
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Having sat all four of the WJEC exams I would say it’s not necessary to go to class to sit them, but it is necessary to have done quite a bit of the grammar work that SSIW doesn’t do.
For the first exam I sat several of the students in my class did so and there was quite a lot of exam preparation in the classroom. As I’ve progressed I’ve become more of a minority and the powers that be seem to have discouraged the tutors from spending too much time on the exam as it isn’t something most of the students are doing. There is something to be said for that. Last summer saw just 3 (three) students sitting the Uwch exam in Abertawe and one in Hwlffordd (Haverfordwest).
However most of the Welsh for adults centres run exam preparation days, which I’m sure anyone can go to. I had to go to Cardiff for mine as the lack of students sitting the exam locally made it uneconomical.
Also the WJEC publish old papers and old parts of papers. These are REALLY USEFUL. If you can go through them with a Welsh speaker/tutor/educated friend you can find out what they after. If you have several, you can see the pattern of things they are after.
Canolradd and Uwch exams require you to do work beforehand, the Uwch exam requires quite a lot of work.
Lastly, if you do go a council or University run course, in Wales, you don’t (or didn’t) need to pay to sit the exam. I think they say, or said, that if you register for the exam but don’t turn up for it without a good reason, they can ask for the money back. I presume someone not attending a class will have to pay the fee themselves. However, there are many more interesting ways of attending class than you might think. Sometimes on-line for a bit and then a day a month in class, or an intensive fortnight, or month.
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I started learning Welsh in London and also wanted to take exams. I contacted Catrin Thomas at Coleg Gwent, Pont-y-Pwl, who organises the exams, email: Catrin.Thomas@coleggwent.ac.uk. Coleg Gwent does excellent day and weekend courses with a revision course just before the exam. I have done Mynediad and Sylvaen levels and hope to take Canolradd this year. I am now a Coleg Gwent student using their excellent Skype course, one hour per week usually with the same tutor at a mutually convenient time. In this way registration for the exams is through the College. This time because the exam registration date is so close you will have to send your form to CBAC/WJEC having first agreed with CG that you can do the exam with them. You can find exam details and past papers on http://www.wjec.co.uk/qualifications/welsh-for-adults/welsh-for-adults-entry/
Pob lwc!
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Hi Elisabeth and all the other kind people who offered me advice. I contacted Coleg Gwent today and have arranged to sit the Mynediad exam in June! Now the hard work begins!
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Pob lwc!
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