Cuts at universities across the country show that the university funding system needs to change.

We are calling on the Government to put the higher education sector on a more solid footing with adequate funding, and in particular to consider the value for money in funding students to study outside of Wales. In 2023-24, a total of £553,473,000 of the Welsh Government’s budget was spent on living costs and tuition fees for Welsh students who chose to follow their higher education courses outside Wales.

Toni Schiavone from Cymdeithas yr Iaith said:
"We have serious concerns about these harmful cuts to higher education, including the impact on Welsh-language education. The First Minister Eluned Morgan has said that this is a matter for the universities themselves, but clearly the current system is failing. Every university is facing serious financial challenges and are increasingly operating like businesses, not as educational institutions serving communities and people. The Government needs a new vision and a viable model for the higher education sector.
"One specific thing the Welsh Government can do is to consider whether spending an eye-watering half a billion pounds of its annual budget on funding students to study in England offers value for money. This is significant money that should be invested in Welsh universities, especially in times of austerity.

Outmigration

Toni Schiavone added
"We also know that the outmigration of Welsh speakers is a huge issue for the language, and a policy like this, especially alongside schemes like Seren which encourage some of our brightest young people to leave the country in order to study at university, contributes directly to this significant issue. Under the current funding system, only around 60% of Welsh students choose to study in Wales, while over 95% of English and Scottish students stay in their own countries to study. Something has to change.
"At the moment we are funding students to study in another country when we have the same courses in Wales, and courses of the highest standard, while Welsh universities are in great need of financial support."