Gaelic Medium Education and Careers Project - Fieldwork Mid-Point Update

We are now halfway through our month of data collection for our major project exploring the career planning and career outcomes of Gaelic medium education (GME) pupils in Scotland (https://linktr.ee/gmecareers). This article is an update for stakeholders and wider interested parties on the fieldwork so far.

If the project is new to you, here is a quick summary: the purpose of the study is to explore the benefit of Gaelic medium education for young people’s careers. We are exploring senior phase (S4-S6) pupils' perceptions of the career benefits of GME and the impact of GME on the early career decisions of GME school leavers aged 17-25. 

Our online survey targeted at young adults aged 16-25, who have left GME within the last 8 years, launched on 1st September 2025. Our first respondent was a recent GME leaver, whose Gaelic language skills helped them to secure a highly competitive Modern Apprenticeship, so that was a great start! We took a soft start, by promoting the survey through informal and social networks and are now sharing it more strategically via partner organisations. If you are in the target group or would like to share the survey with anyone in the target group, here is a link to the survey: Former GME Pupils Questionnaire

Also in the first week of September, we began conducting our focus groups with current S4-S6 pupils. By the end of this week we will have visited 5 schools (West Dunbartonshire, Stirling, East Kilbride, Cumbernauld and Edinburgh) and will be going further afield to complete our data collection over the next 3 weeks. We've had a wonderfully positive response from staff within the schools, who have really welcomed the opportunity to speak with us, and the pupils we've interviewed have been outstanding advocates for both GME and the Gaelic language. In the words of one of our interviewees, "Gaelic? It's a great flex." (I've improved both my own Gaelic skills and my application of Gen Z speak over the past few weeks!). 

We cannot wait to share the findings of the research with as wide a group of stakeholders as possible. We will be analysing our data throughout October with the aim of disseminating our findings throughout November and December. 

Thank you to everyone who has shown such outstanding support for everything we're doing with this project so far! 

Press Release: https://www.uws.ac.uk/news/new-study-to-explore-if-gaelic-gives-school-leavers-in-scotland-career-advantage/


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