What’s different in Wales to England?

[ItsMyLasagna]

Apologises if I’m being stupid here, I have googled but I’m getting myself confused.

Myself and DH are moving to Wales imminently to be with his family. I’m English and have only ever lived here. DH is Welsh and lived there until 12 when his parents divorced and his Mum took him back to his home town.

As he didn’t spend any of his adult life there he has no idea what’s different. I know prescriptions are free but is there anything I need to be aware of? I know Scotland has many things different to England but is Wales?

The education system is different.. closer to England than Scotland, but subtle differences

Theres difference in the funded childcare for under 5s.

Depends which part of Wales as some still have pockets that converse in Welsh as primary language so learning some courteous Welsh phrases may help you there.

The language! Some schools are Welsh language and others both English and incidental Welsh plus Welsh GCSE. Welsh language TV, music and radio. Rugby. Where on Wales are you going?

There's dragons there.
Apparently.

Road signs are bilingual. Lifts often are too.

Everyone talks about rugby 🏉.

You need to be able to pronounce eisteddfod.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

national speed limit 20 mph unless stated otherwise. Free prescriptions.
GCSE results are letters not numbers, A* being the highest.
Student finance is different, everyone gets the same amount but it's made up of a combination of grant (not repayable) and loan (repayable) according to income.
Probably other stuff I can't think of yet

Things like health, education and transport are devolved so are different. Own parliament at the Senedd with elections next year. Welsh language education. Some schools Welsh only, some dual, some English. University funding for students is also different. Lots of culture and history to explore. I agree Eisteddfod very important in some areas!!

We have a Senedd and an election coming up in 2026. We tend to be more left-leaning politically. We have our own language which you will come into contact with via any public service, road signs and the like. Rugby Union is a religion. We have a very strong sense of shared culture and community. St David’s Day is celebrated. Prescriptions are free, plastic bags are not. It’s stunningly beautiful - valleys, mountains, waterfalls and everything in between. Our public transport connectivity is fairly dire, it’s easier to get from North Wales to London than from North Wales to South Wales - do you drive, where are you moving to? There is no ‘one Wales’ - it’s a fabulous, diverse and vibrant country. Croeso i Gymru!

Joe's ice-cream.

The weather?

Council tax is much higher

🤣
Depends where the OP is coming from. If Cornwall, quite similar; if Norfolk, not so much. ☔️ 🌧️ ☔️ 💨 🌞

Well now I have to go and get some!

Singing. Seems that good singing is much more commonplace in Wales. Not just the well known singers.

Good point, also an amazing live music scene. If I wanted to I could go and see live music several times every single night (albeit I live in Swansea).

NHS here is on its knees.

School curriculum is quite different now. (We don’t fair well on PISA but it’s not all about that.)

Economy is tough with still high levels of unemployment and people too sick to work.

Don’t get me started on the 20mph.

But it is beautiful and friendly and I wouldn’t want to live or raise DD anywhere else.

Please do go and visit the Eisteddfod in August! It’ll give you an idea of what Welsh culture is like; it’s so important for us as Welsh speakers, it’s like a way of life

Certain roads and areas get really congested on sunny weekends which is very frustrating if you just need to pop out for milk.
The hospitals are not as good in my experience and services are quite disjointed. Getting a GP appointment is easier.
People will know everything about you before you’ve even arrived ;)

Croseo!

the education system is different. Learning through play happens up to and including year 2 and is called the foundation phase. Children take GCSEs like in England and are still graded with letters. The curriculum is having an overhaul at the moment- we still won’t do as well on PISA and our 7 year olds might not know what a fronted adverbial is but I think it’s a more holistic approach which I prefer. Welsh is compulsory until age 16 to learn as a second language. Children can also attend Welsh medium schools if you want them to become fluent which is helpful for jobs- maybe public sector jobs require Welsh to be spoken.

it’s a wonderful country for culture- music and the arts are widely celebrated and there is so much tradition and pride in the country.

prescriptions are free but the NHS is not great in many areas of wales. To be fair, I’ve never had an issue with care apart from long an and e wait times but I know that some health boards are in special measures.

there is a different funding situation for early years, it’s 30 hours from age 3 as I recall, and those in flying start areas get funded hours from age 2. I think maybe 10 hours a week.

where in wales are you looking to move to? You will have very different experiences in say Bangor to flint to Cardiff to the valleys. It’s hard to say all the differences without knowing where you’re going

oh and the 20mph. That is a nightmare 😂

People will know everything about you before you’ve even arrived ;)

To be fair I moved in England last year, and the entire village knew my history before I'd got out of the car.

We don't have those silly sats tests ar primary school. I live in a rural fairly welsh speaking area. So it's different compared to like Cardiff, as here your now forced into doing welsh at the local school.

In Cardiff you are also obliged to learn Welsh. It's the Curriculum for Wales. You aren't obliged to go to an Ysgol however, that's the difference.

GP appointments are NOT easier to get here.

And try getting a NHS dentist!

😂

It’s a national policy. Not just Cardiff.

There are tests. They just aren’t called SATS.

They were got rid of, then they realised they couldn’t measure anything so there are national tests all the way through from year 2.