Sta/Medr/03/2026: Staff at higher education institutions: August 2024 to July 2025

Main points

This publication provides information about staff employed at higher education (HE) institutions in Wales for the academic year 2024/25, as collected in the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Staff Record.

Staff numbers are calculated using the full-person equivalent for staff at 1 December of the reporting year, for example 1 December 2024 for 2024/25. Staff on atypical contracts are not included in this report as they are not comparable to those on other contract types. In 2024/25 there were 1,170 staff employed by Welsh HE institutions on atypical contracts.

• There were 21,995 staff employed at Welsh HE institutions in 2024/25. This represents a 2.8% decrease from the 22,635 staff recorded in 2023/24.
• 2024/25 was the first academic year since 2020/21 where a decrease in total staff numbers occurred.
• In 2024/25, full-time staff accounted for 67.3% of all staff (14,815), while part-time staff accounted for 32.7% (7,180) of all staff.
• In 2024/25, academic and non-academic staff each accounted for 50% of total staff. There were 11,085 staff on academic contracts and 10,910 staff on non-academic contracts.
• In 2024/25, 56% of staff were female (12,325) and 44% (9,610) were male.
• In 2024/25, of staff with a known ethnic background, 86.7% were from a White background, 7.4% were from an Asian background, 2.1% were from a Black background, 1.9% were from a Mixed background and 2.0% were from Other backgrounds.
• In 2024/25, 9.3% of staff were recorded as having at least one known disability.
• The largest age group of staff in 2024/25 was the aged 36 to 45 category, which accounted for 28.3% of all staff. The smallest age group was the aged 66 and over category, which accounted for 2.9% of all staff.