Final Welsh Government sign off is due soon on plans to build a new Welsh language immersion centre at an Aberystwyth primary school.

Plans for a new multi-million pound Welsh language immersion centre at Ysgol Gymraeg in Aberystwyth were approved by planners in 2024, and a final decision on funding by the Welsh Government is due to be made this month.

The scheme will see the creation of a Welsh Language Immersion Centre and a block of new classrooms, which will add space for an additional 30 pupils in the Welsh-medium primary school.

The centre is part of a long-term plan to increase Welsh speaker numbers in Ceredigion and throughout Wales.

The project will involve the demolition of two temporary classrooms and a garage on the school site to make way for the new building.

The new block will have years 2 and 3 on the ground floor, with years 4, 5 and 6 on the first floor.

It will be designed to achieve a net zero carbon rating, with solar panels and a wildflower green installed on the roof.

The project was slated to cost around £5.7m.

In a report to be put before members of Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet on 3 March, the plan is currently ongoing, with a final funding decision from the Welsh Government not yet known.

The full business case was sent to the Welsh Government in December and January, the report said, with the project set to be discussed by a Welsh Government panel on 26 February.

The report said that the council is “awaiting approval from Welsh Government with an anticipated commencement on site in June 2026 subject to confirmation of Welsh Government funding.”

The report said that the Welsh language immersion centre at Ysgol Gymraeg is part of the council’s “ambitious Welsh in Education Strategic Plan” and is “central to delivering this innovative vision.”

“Without the Centre, successfully implementing this project would present a significant challenge,” the report said.

The centre is part of a strategy that has seen the other four primary schools in Aberystwyth - Plascrug, St Padarn’s, Comins Coch, and Llwyn yr Eos - being changed to Welsh-medium in the Foundation Phase, while remaining English-medium at Key Stage 2.

In addition, all four schools have transitioned to 3 to 11 provision, with Welsh introduced in the nursery classes since September 2024 and in reception classes since September 2025.

By September 2027, all pupils in the Foundation Learning Phase at Plascrug, St Padarn’s, Comins Coch, and Llwyn yr Eos will receive Welsh-medium education.

The immersion centre project will result in increasing the capacity of Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth from 370 to 400 places – excluding nursery places.

The council’s Cabinet will be asked at the meeting to grant powers to officers to move ahead with the scheme “in order to enable a prompt contract award decision to be made, once the Welsh Government funding position is clear.”

The council would like work to start in June to avoid delays in opening the planned centre.