Written question WQ95242
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Education
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 10 days
Question
How does the Cabinet Secretary plan to prevent a potential brain drain of Welsh students to universities in England due to declining appeal and standards in Wales’s higher education institutions as a result of the £100 million black hole reported by universities?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Further and Higher Education
There is no indication of a decline in demand for Higher Education Institutions in Wales. Current data for undergraduate full-time student applications is as follows:
• Wales is a net importer of students from England. In 2022/23, 33,675 Welsh domiciles were studying in England compared with 50,630 English domiciles studying in Wales. 68% of Welsh domiciled students study at institutions in Wales. Source: HESA Where do HE students come from?
• There were 23,155 UK domiciled accepted applicants to providers in Wales in 2024 (23,160 in 2023).
• In 2024, 11,050 Welsh domiciled applicants were accepted to providers in Wales (10,850 in 2023). This represents 58% of Welsh domiciled accepted applicants (57% in 2023).
• In 2024, 7,930 Welsh domiciled accepted applicants were accepted to providers outside Wales (8,155 in 2023). This represents 42% of Welsh domiciled accepted applicants (43% in 2023).
• In 2024, 12,105 non-Welsh UK domiciled applicants were accepted to providers in Wales (12,310 in 2023). This represents 52% of UK domiciled applicants accepted to Wales (53% in 2023).
Source: UCAS Undergraduate end of cycle data resources 2024 | Undergraduate | UCAS
This is applicant data and not all students apply for university or college through UCAS, and not all students who apply will actually attend. Therefore, the actual number of students attending higher education in September might differ to these figures