The maximum university tuition fee in Wales will remain at
£9,000, with £26m of government investment to support students
and universities over the next two years, Education Secretary
announced today.
The Welsh Government is securing a stable, progressive and
sustainable funding system, whilst also responding to the many
unscheduled changes announced in England.
The Education Secretary has also confirmed an increase in the
repayment threshold for undergraduate loans from £21,000 to
£25,000, subject to the successful conclusion of discussions with
Her Majesty’s Treasury.
said:
“I will not allow the political turmoil and uncertainty in
England to knock us off course from delivering on a stable and
sustainable higher education system in Wales.
“Our sector does not operate in isolation and we must provide
stability for our institutions to compete both domestically and
internationally.
“Given the uncertain political climate in England I have
carefully considered our future plans for tuition fee levels.
After consulting with our Universities and the National Union of
Students, the maximum tuition fee will remain at £9,000. We are
also on track to deliver the most equitable and progressive
student support system in the UK, starting next academic year.
“Unlike the Government across the border, we are delivering
investment to support both students and universities as part of
these changes.
“I also remain concerned about the rate of interest charged to
students whilst they study and I will continue to discuss this
with counterparts in Whitehall.”
To help universities and students from Wales, the Education
Secretary has announced:
- An additional £10m will be made available to HEFCW to deal
with any immediate issues arising from the tuition fee
changes.
- Additional £6m to HEFCW in this financial year to deal with
the short-term implications of demographic change, as well
allowing them to start preparing for the implications of Brexit.
- A further £5m will be allocated to HEFCW in both 2018-19 and
2019-20 to allow our institutions to provide bursaries and grants
to postgraduate students, prior to full implementation of the new
package of postgraduate support in 2019/20. This will help
incentivise student progress and for Welsh Students to return to
Wales to study, in line with our response to the Diamond
Review.
The Welsh Government will continue with their plans to introduce
the most progressive student support system in the UK where all
students will receive support of around £9,000 in their pocket to
help with day to day costs and will provide a parity of support
across all levels and modes of study.
END
Notes:
The Education Secretary has announced that pending the successful
conclusion of discussions with Her Majesty’s Treasury, it is her
intention to bring forward regulations that will achieve the
following from the 1 April 2018:
- Increase in the repayment threshold for undergraduate loans
from £21,000 to £25,000.
- The new threshold will apply to those who have already taken
out and will take out loans for tuition and living costs for
full-time and part-time undergraduate courses in the post-2012
system, and those who have taken out or will take an advanced
learner loan for a further education course.
- The lower threshold for variable interest rates for post-2012
student loans will also rise to £25,000 on 6th April 2018, and
the upper threshold will rise to £45,000 from £41,000 on the same
date. Both the repayment and variable interest thresholds will be
adjusted annually in line with average earnings,
thereafter.
- The repayment thresholds applicable to pre-2012 student
loans, the older mortgage style loans and master’s loans are not
affected by these changes.
Universities UK have called on the Government in England to learn
lessons from Wales’s approach to student support reform: (Janet
Beer, President of UUK, September 2017)
“England could learn valuable lessons from the recent review
conducted in Wales which looked at this question. That review
concluded that a fair and sustainable system would see students
take out tuition fee loans, while the government provides
maintenance support through a combination of loans and
grants.”
