This article offers a new analysis into young people's perspectives towards Welsh-medium study at post-compulsory level. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with twenty-six 15-16-year olds attending a Welsh-medium secondary school in the South Wales Valleys (an area of Wales with a low proportion of Welsh speakers), this article will highlight how the linguistic context of the area affects perspectives towards Welsh-medium study. This paper will also illustrate how perspectives towards language of study is shaped by the types of educational pathways that young people aspire to pursue at post-compulsory level with different factors impacting on the perspectives of academically orientated and vocationally orientated students.