Aris Prevost, Cardiff Socialist Students
The Welsh Labour government announced recently that it would be following the Labour government in Westminster by raising university tuition fees. From September 2025, Welsh students in Wales will be charged £9,535 a year, an increase of £285. Fees had already been raised by £250 this September.
The changes bring the university sector in Wales in line with the English system, though key differences still remain.
The university system and its finances have been in the hands of the Welsh Government since the creation of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) in 1998. The Senedd can set the tuition fee cap for Welsh universities and set out funding and loans that students can get to help with finance.
In England, students receive a tuition fee loan to pay off tuition fees, and a maintenance loan to help with living expenses while at university. The amount a student gets depends on how much their family earns. In Wales, maintenance loans and grants work differently. All students get the same amount, but family earnings determine how much is a grant versus a loan. In addition, maintenance loans in Wales are higher than in England. English students living outside of London get up to £9,978 a year. Welsh students who live outside of London are entitled to £11,720.
Better deal?
Generally, the Welsh government has offered a marginally better deal for students. This would not have been the case were it not for students and organisers fighting to put pressure on the Welsh government.
Now these concessions are coming under threat.
The Welsh government is looking for ways to solve the lack of higher education funding, and trying to solve its own money problems. The solution it is choosing is to charge students more money while allowing universities to cut courses and staff members.
This is why the Funding Not Fees campaign and Socialist Students are so important, to fight back against the cuts that students in Wales have hard fought.
We demand the Welsh government immediately reverse the planned fees increase, and campaign alongside students in England for free, fully funded education with liveable maintenance grants, funded by the super-rich.
