Wales has a lot to offer for international students. There are lively cities, peaceful towns and villages, many castles and historic sites. It also has a unique Celtic cultural heritage, a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and is renowned for offering people a warm welcome. Wales has superb natural attractions including three National Parks and a splendid and varied coastline.
Did you know?
Here are some little known gems from the “Land of Song”
Great Lakes?
We’ve got 398 natural lakes, not counting the 90 we built ourselves.
Highs and lows
Wales is big on mountains. Snowdonia links to the Cambrian Mountains, which link to the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains in the south. And where you get highs, you also get lows – like the awesome green valleys for which we’re so famous.
Wales = Education
The man who had the original thought of inventing the ‘=’ sign as a shorthand for ‘equals’ was Robert Recorde from Tenby. That was back in 1550. Love of learning is a part of Wales. Children generally attend school between 5 and 16 years old. We have some 1,730 state nursery and primary schools for younger children and 200 state secondary schools for 11-16 year olds. Many young people then choose to stay in full-time education after 16, either in their secondary school or one of 25 further education colleges. At 18, they can leave to enter the world of work or follow further course of study.
Pi: Welsh character
Another Welsh original thinker is William Jones, who in 1706 became the first person to use the Greek letter Pi ( π ) as a mathematical symbol to calculate the circumference to diameter ratio of circles.
Ignore the sheep, they just work here
Sheep outnumber people 4:1 in Wales. Welsh lamb is famous the world over. And when they are hard at work looking impossibly scenic in a Welsh landscape, it’s hard to believe they don’t work for Welsh tourism.