<P> In 2014 / 15, there were 435 Welsh - medium primary schools with 65,460 pupils, rising from 64,366 in 2013 / 14 but the number of Welsh - medium primary schools decreasing from 444 . </P> <P> Pupils in secondary school take part in the compulsory GCSE and the non-compulsory A-level or BTEC qualifications at age 16 and 18 respectively . Since 2007 the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification has also been available as an option although it was ungraded until 2014 . </P> <P> In 2014 / 15 there were 207 secondary schools (a drop of six since 2013 / 14) in Wales with 182,408 pupils and 11,269 FTE teachers (a drop of 310 since 2013 / 14). The pupil / teacher ratio was 17: 1, which has remained largely the same since 2000 / 01 . In 2015 / 16, there were 178,650 pupils in 205 secondary schools - a drop of 3,700 since 2014 / 15 . The same report found that in 2015 / 16, there were 8,000 pupils in 34 independent schools, 4,540 pupils in 32 independent special schools, and 730 pupils in 25 pupil referral units . </P> <P> In 2014 / 15, there were 50 Welsh - medium secondary (a drop of 2 since 2013 / 14) schools with 36,485 pupils, dropping from 37,400 in 2013 / 14 . In the same year, there were 4 Welsh - medium middle schools (a rise of 2 since 2013 / 14) with 2,448 pupils, a rise from 1,577 in 2013 / 14 . </P>

How many secondary schools are there in wales