Publication summary

1. This publication sets out Medr’s requirements for the submission of two-year delivery plans covering the period 2025/26 to 2026/27 for higher education (HE) providers currently in receipt of funding for Targeted Employability Support for HE Students. It announces the 2025/26 academic year (AY) budget of £2m for this support and details providers’ financial allocations. Funding for 2026/27 academic year will be subject to Medr’s budget.

2. This funding should be used to develop the employability skills of students studying HE courses who are under-represented in HE as a result of social, cultural, economic or organisational factors as defined in the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022.

3. Delivery plans should build on progress made in the previous three years of funded activity, providing flexible and bespoke provision to students from under-represented groups to equip them with the social and financial capital to help them have a positive outcome after graduation. Activity should be targeted, take account of the student voice and be delivered in collaboration with a variety of partners including student services and employers, with the aim of removing barriers to employability and empowering students to take ownership of navigating their future career paths.

2025/26 allocations

Provider	Total funding (£)
University of South Wales	325,261
Aberystwyth University	154,148
Bangor University	150,304
Cardiff University	330,000
University of Wales Trinity Saint David	152,469
Swansea University	330,000
Cardiff Metropolitan University	238,931
Wrexham University	100,000
The Open University in Wales	176,503
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai	32,385
Grŵp NPTC Group	5,000
Gower College Swansea	5,000
Total	2,000,000

4. 2025/26 provider allocations have been calculated using the latest verified HESA data for 2023/24 according to the funding methodology outlined in paragraphs 37- 41 of this publication.

5. 2025/26 first tranche payments will be made on approval of delivery plans and end of year monitoring for 2024/25.

Timeline

6. We require universities and Grŵp Llandrillo Menai to:

• Submit delivery plans using Annex A and Annex B to [email protected] by 19 September 2025.
• Submit monitoring reports to us in February 2026 and September 2026 (Medr will send individualised templates to providers separately).

7. We require Gower College Swansea and Grŵp Colegau NPTC to:

• Submit delivery plans using Annex C to [email protected] by 19 September 2025.
• Submit a monitoring report to us in September 2026 (template to be sent separately).

Introduction

1. The Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 (TERA), Section 5 states that Medr must promote continuous improvement in the quality of Welsh tertiary education and, in discharging this duty, must have regard to:
a) the importance of ensuring that members of the tertiary education workforce are capable of providing tertiary education of a high quality, and
b) the reasonable requirements of members of the tertiary education workforce for continuous professional development.

2. Section 5 (3) identifies members of the tertiary education workforce to be:
a) teachers of persons receiving tertiary education,
b) persons who provide support to such teachers, and
c) persons who provide support to learners to participate in tertiary education.

3. To support the discharge of this duty, professional learning is featured in Medr’s Strategic Plan under Strategic Aim 3.

Strategic Aim 3 To ensure learners receive the highest-quality provision in a tertiary education sector that strives for continuous improvement.

Growth commitment We will support the tertiary education workforce to access effective professional learning and explore ways to share best practice, extending effective pedagogy across the whole sector.

4. Professional learning in this context may include mandatory training, continuous professional development (CPD), subject and industrial knowledge, professional qualifications, action research and professional inquiry.

Use of the Professional Learning Fund

5. The Welsh Government’s funding letter to Medr for 2025/26 includes £5 million to support the professional learning and development of the further education workforce. Funding has been allocated to FE institutions based on the size of institution as a proxy for the number of staff. Allocations are set out in Annex A.

6. The funding allocated by Medr is made available subject to the general conditions for payment of funds set out in Medr’s Terms and Conditions of Funding.

7. Funding will support professional learning for practitioners and learning support staff and can be used to enable institutions to deliver or commission professional learning aligned to the themes outlined in this guidance. Funding should only be used for the development of staff involved in delivery of FE teaching and learning.

8. The funding can be used for activities that reflect each institution’s individual priorities, based on its own policies and the identified needs of its staff. Institutions are also encouraged to use the funding for collaborative activity and can choose to “pool” a proportion of this funding to support collaborative projects.

9. In drawing together applications for use of funding, we expect all institutions to consider:

• Professional standards for FE teachers, WBL practitioners and AL practitioners/Educators Wales
• Collaboration across the sector to improve efficiencies, peer support and sharing good practice.
• Previous learning to build on and embed the work developed in previous years.
• Balancing the learning needs of the institution (CPD) and the decisions practitioners make about their own professional learning needs and interests.
• The development of staff skills to support complex needs and skills priorities.
• Where institutions are undertaking professional learning relating to digital delivery, we will ask them to use the Digital Professional Standards which have been developed by Jisc as part of our Digital 2030 work.

10. Applications must focus on the eligible themes listed below. The list below covers mandatory themes which must be included and optional themes.

Mandatory themes

• Welsh language development.
• Professional learning required to create and support an anti-racist culture.

Optional themes

• Digital learning.
• Teaching and learning strategies, including differentiated learning.
• Literacy and numeracy (including ESOL).
• Enhancement of industrial skills linked to labour market needs (including capacity to delivery higher level qualifications).
• Strengthening A level and vocational pedagogy.
• Action research.
• Professional learning for specialist teaching and support staff for learners with complex needs.
• Delivery of activities designed to accelerate and build expertise for staff which will increase the learner’s knowledge and learning experience.

11. Institutions will be expected to report against each activity as part of the interim and final reporting requirements.

Key issues and methods of working

12. In preparing applications, institutions should consider other cross cutting policies and ways of working. These must include:

• Social Partnership
  FEIs are expected to develop their proposals using social partnership principles, to ensure their recognised trade unions are fully involved in planning, decision making, and implementing changes that will affect staff.
• Anti-Racist Wales
  Individuals and institutions should take responsibility for creating an anti-racist culture and driving lasting positive change, and in doing so, we would expect you to consider the professional learning required within your institution to help realise the ambition of an Anti-racist Wales by 2030.
• Creating a bilingual Wales
  Medr has a role to play in contributing to the Welsh Government’s ambition to achieve 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050 and have a duty to encourage greater use of the Welsh language. We therefore expect you to consider this when preparing your applications.

Professional Learning Strategies

13. As a condition of funding, Medr will require all institutions to submit a formal professional learning strategy. Institutions can either review an existing strategy, or develop a new one. The PLF can be used to fund the release of staff time to develop and evaluate strategies, and/or to bring in external expertise to support the process if required. Strategies will need to be submitted to Medr with their interim reports in February 2026.

Eligible activities

14. Funding can be used to:

• Undertake accredited teaching qualifications.
• Undertake specific modules or units of training to enhance teaching skills (eg MA modules).
• Update and enhance staff’s industrial/vocational skills.
• Purchase bespoke training, including the costs of external trainers or facilitators.
• Purchase or develop e-learning packages.
• Meet the costs of backfill for staff who are undertaking professional learning.
• Undertake research including action research.
• Collaborative design and delivery of professional learning and leadership development, including joint training on a regional basis.
• Developing bilingual professional learning resources and guidance for sector-wide benefit, including in work-based and adult learning.
• Professional learning for specialist teaching and support staff for learners with complex needs.
• Delivery of activities designed to accelerate and build expertise for staff which will increase the learner’s knowledge and learning experience.

15. The funding cannot be used for the purchase of capital equipment or software or for course development for learners.

16. If you are unsure whether your proposed use of funding is eligible please contact [email protected].

Evaluation criteria

17. Proposals must:

• Deliver professional learning in line with the Professional standards for FE teachers, WBL practitioners and AL practitioners/Educators Wales
• Identify clear benefits and show how impact will be evaluated.
• Be aligned to the themes listed within this guidance.
• Include activities which support Welsh language development
• Demonstrate professional learning which will create and support an anti-racist culture
• Demonstrate a clear rationale which reflects the identified professional learning needs of the institution’s staff.

How to apply

18. Each institution is required to complete and return a signed copy of the form at Annex C to:

• Formally confirm your institution’s acceptance of the funding
• Nominate an appropriate individual in your institution as the lead contact in relation to this funding
• Briefly outline your intentions for use of this funding

19. Signed forms should be returned to [email protected] by 7 July 2025.

20. Please notify Medr at the earliest opportunity if you foresee that you will not be able to spend your full allocation. If funding is released by individual institutions, Medr will consider if it is feasible to re-allocate this funding.

Monitoring and payment of funding

21. Subject to the return of Annex C, an interim payment (65% of your institution’s funding allocation) will be scheduled during February 2026.

22. You will be required to provide expenditure information by 31 July 2026 to release final payment. You should only claim against actual expenditure incurred by 31 July 2026. The amount of this final payment will be adjusted in line with the actual expenditure incurred, up to the total value of your institution’s allocation.

23. Interim and final report templates along with end-of-year expenditure information will be added as Annex D. Nominated funding leads will be notified when these forms are available.

24. Confirmation of the allocation is subject to Medr’s approval of activities.

Further information

25. Any queries regarding this guidance and supporting documentation should be directed to Karron Williams at [email protected].

Introduction

1. This publication gives definitions and guidance to higher education institutions (HEIs) and further education institutions (FEIs) with higher education provision (known collectively as higher education (HE) providers) that are funded by Medr (the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research) for their higher education provision. The guidance also applies for providers with specifically designated course provision, but who do not receive funding directly from Medr for their higher education provision, this includes some FEIs and some alternative providers. The guidance relates to the end of year data that are extracted from the 2024/25 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record via the HESA Information Reporting Interface Service (IRIS) to enable Medr to:
a). calculate funding allocations for part-time undergraduate credit based funding and the higher cost subjects premium for 2026/27;
b). calculate any adjustments to 2024/25 part-time undergraduate credit based funding;
c). monitor provision of medicine and dentistry courses;
d). establish final numbers of students and credit values at HE providers for 2024/25 for funding modelling and information purposes.

Main changes for 2024/25

2. The main changes made since the EYM 2023/24 survey are as follows:
a). The method for determining dormant/writing up students who have been inactive for the whole of the academic year has changed. Annex M contains details of the methodology used to identify such students in the data extraction. Annex K has also been updated to reflect the change.
b). The way medicine and dentistry credits are assigned to their academic subject categories has changed and the method now uses the course qualification subject and proportion rather than year of study. Details can be found in Annex K, paragraph 17.
c). The maximum fee limits for full-time undergraduate and PGCE courses have been updated. See Annex F.
d). Those providers that subscribe to HESA to return data relating to specifically designated courses, are now in the scope of the EYM data extraction. This is for the purposes of getting an end of year recruitment picture for these providers. Data are not used in funding calculations and do not need to be signed off. Further details are included in the guidance annexes.

Contents

3. This circular provides:
a). guidance and definitions for the various categories used to classify students;
b). information about the criteria used to extract EYM data from the 2024/25 HESA student record via IRIS;
c). details of the sign off arrangements for the tables made available through HESA IRIS outputs (see paragraph 10 for the list of tables requiring sign off). Note that the sign off process is only applicable to higher education providers that receive funding from Medr for their higher education provision. Providers that return data to HESA because they have specifically designated courses are not required to sign off the EYM tables, and the sign off sheet has been removed from their HESA IRIS outputs.

4. The contents of the annexes are as follows:

Annex		Page number
Annex A	Summary guide to the EYM 2024/25 survey	5
Annex B	Definition of a recognised HE qualification	13
Annex C	Distance learning, campuses, subsidiaries, franchises, validation arrangements and other collaborative arrangements	14
Annex D	Definition of residential and funding status	21
Annex E	Definition of ASCs	25
Annex F	Definition of mode of study	27
Annex G	Definition of level of study	30
Annex H	Rules for counting registrations	31
Annex I	Rules for counting credit values	38
Annex J	Table and column descriptions	43
Annex K	HESA/HESES/EYM mappings and end of year monitoring data extraction criteria	47
Annex L	Use of data by Medr	57
Annex M	Dormant/writing up student classification	59
Annex N	Funding status reference grid	61
Annex O	Sample copies of IRIS output tables extracted from HESA data	63

Adjustment of 2024/25 funding

5. For the purposes of calculating the funding consequences of under-recruitment for 2024/25 funding, part-time undergraduate credit based teaching funding is recalculated using EYM data. Credit values (for part-time undergraduate students) resulting from modules for which students registered up to and including, as well as after, 1 November 2024 will be used and the number of credit values associated with modules from which students withdraw will be deducted. The signed off EYM tables from the HESA IRIS extraction will be used for this purpose.

Process for signing off end of year monitoring and other data extracted from the HESA student record

6. Higher education providers that are directly funded by Medr for their higher education provision must sign off the data presented in the final 2024/25 HESA student record IRIS outputs as of the 5 November 2025 HESA final sign off date. The deadline for returning the signed IRIS outputs to Medr is 5 December 2025. This is the third year of producing IRIS outputs under the new HESA student record. We made some changes last year as a consequence of the consultation on changes to EYM for 2023/24, and are making some additional changes for 2024/25 (see paragraph 2). If any amendments to the extraction mapping or method are made after initial implementation of the extraction, we will inform providers. Providers should also inform us if they find any issues with the extraction, either in the presentation of the outputs or the mapping used.

7. During the HESA data quality checking period from 1 August to 29 October 2025, Medr will conduct quality checks of the data submitted. We will contact providers around six weeks prior to the final sign off date for the HESA student record of 5 November, and once providers have confirmed they are ready for us to send on any queries, we will provide a set of queries. Providers can also ask us to raise questions earlier than six weeks or set a date that they want us to send them our list of queries if they prefer, and can ask at any point for us to look at particular aspects of their data if that is useful to them. This is to assist with the provider’s own internal quality checking process and to ensure the data are fit for purpose for Medr. As described in the HESA Student Record collection schedule, providers are required to either resubmit their data to amend these anomalies, or provide an explanation as to why they are genuine.

8. Prior to returning the signed off IRIS outputs to Medr, higher education providers must have undertaken sufficient checks to be satisfied that the extracted data are accurate, and/or have made amendments where necessary if data are not accurate. As 2024/25 is the third year of the new student record under Data Futures, and given that some providers are still experiencing difficulties in the implementation of the new record, we are continuing to allow changes to be made to all IRIS outputs at the sign off stage. Providers should provide an explanation of any changes made. Further details of the process are contained in the Data Requirements publication for 2025/26, to be published in August 2025.

9. We do not require a hard copy of the signed IRIS outputs. Signed outputs should be returned by emailing them to Andrea Thomas at [email protected]. The deadline for return of the signed off outputs is 5 December 2025. Details about the process will be emailed separately to authorised signatories and data contacts in October 2025 as a reminder.

10. The IRIS outputs requiring sign off have an “S” prefix in front of their filename and are as follows:
a). End of Year Monitoring
b). Medr National Measures
c). Part-time fee waiver allocations
d). Part-time fee waiver monitoring
e). Degree apprenticeships monitoring (along with the requested additional information)
f). Per capita funding
g). Disability premium
h). Access and retention premium
i). Welsh medium premium
j). Expensive subjects premium
k). PGR training allocation
l). Race equality/Wellbeing and mental health funding
m). Targeted Employability Support funding
n). Total full-time equivalent (FTE) (for capital funding allocations)

Audit of data

11. Providers are reminded that EYM data, and other tables as described in paragraph 10 as extracted from the HESA student record via IRIS, and any amendments made to the extractions, including methods used to calculate any estimates included in the amendments, may be subject to an external audit carried out by Medr or by contractors working on Medr’s behalf. The systems and processes used to generate the HESA data extracted are in the scope of the institution’s internal audits.

Further information

12. Any queries should be directed to Andrea Thomas (email [email protected]).

Universities, colleges and education providers across Wales will receive a share of almost £1 billion this year, Medr has confirmed as it shared details of its funding allocations for 2025/26.

In January Medr set out the funding assumptions it intended to provide to tertiary education providers for the 2025/26 academic year. Following final confirmation of its budget from the Welsh Government, Medr has now confirmed those allocations and has provided further details about how budgets will be distributed across the tertiary sector.

This is the first time in Wales that total budgets from across the tertiary sector have been presented alongside each other, and includes breakdowns across apprenticeships, local authority school sixth forms, local authority adult community learning, further education and higher education, including research and innovation.

James Owen, Chief Executive of Medr, said: “This is a significant milestone for education in Wales. The publication of our first funding allocations demonstrates our commitment to transparency  and high-quality education and research opportunities for all. With Medr now operational for a year, we are excited to see the positive impact this investment will have on our learners and communities.

“Our comprehensive approach to funding, aligned with the priorities set out in our Strategic Plan, will support institutions to be well-equipped to provide learners with the best possible experiences and meet the challenges of the future.”

Table 1: Total funding for the 2025/26 academic year

	AY 2024/25 £ million	AY 2025/26 £ million
Ring-fenced
Apprenticeship contract	134.520	134.520
Junior apprenticeships	0.400	0.600
Core
Local authority sixth form *	116.664	116.853
Local authority Adult Community Learning *	6.479	6.479
Further education mainstream	409.066	422.826
Further education Additional Learning Support	16.741	16.741
Further education Financial Contingency Fund	7.192	6.880
Withheld from the allocations to support increased participation once evidenced in 2025/26.		21.126
Higher education research and innovation ** 1	97.295	97.121
Higher education teaching funding ** 2	69.434	69.745
Degree apprenticeships	9.411	9.411
Strategic
Access, well-being and inclusion ***	23.962	28.469
Employability and skills ***	3.320	3.320
Research and innovation ***	1.733	2.000
Student/learner and workforce ***	8.254	8.254
Data and technology ***	3.993	3.993
Strategic developments	2.250	3.500
Capital
Higher education	10.000	10.000
Further education digital	3.000	3.000
Total	923.240	964.838

Minor inconsistencies may occur due to rounding.

Providers were informed of their core allocations well ahead of the 2025/26 academic year.

Medr’s funding allocations for academic year 2025/26

Notes

In January 2025, Medr wrote to providers to set out, in broad terms, the funding assumptions that underlie the planned distribution of its budget for the 2025/26 academic year, and received final confirmation of its budget from the Welsh Government in March 2025.

Medr funding assumptions for academic year 2025/26 (January 2025)

The Welsh Government allocates funding to Medr annually on a financial year (FY) basis from 1 April to 31 March. Medr allocates funding to the majority of eligible institutions and providers on an academic year (AY) basis from 1 August to 31 July. It uses this format, FY 2025-26, to denote the financial year to 31 March 2026, and this format, AY 2025/26, to denote the academic year to 31 July 2026.

Table 1 notes:

¹ This includes Quality Research (QR), postgraduate research (PGR) and Research Wales Innovation Fund (RWIF).

² This includes full and part-time premiums, credit-based and per capita allocations.

*  Historically, local authority sixth form and Adult Community Learning allocations have been derived on a financial year basis. For AY 2025/26, Medr’s Board agreed that local authorities would receive a 16 month allocation from April 2025 through to July 2026, allowing Medr to move all tertiary core provision funding to an academic year budget cycle. The above table includes the 12 month commitment only covering the academic year.

**  In AY 2024/25, Medr’s predecessor body the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) applied a one-off pro rata reduction of £11 million to core funding lines for higher education and research to reflect a reduction in the funding available from the Welsh Government. As Welsh Government funding in FY 2025-26 does not reverse this position, the figures are now presented in this table based on the figures post-reduction, pro rated against each line for comparative purposes.

***  Strategic budgets are made up of strategic funding lines transferred to Medr from the Welsh Government and HEFCW. 49 strategic funding lines have been grouped into six thematic budget lines. A largely cash flat budget has allowed for stability in the levels of funding with increases in the access, well-being and inclusion budget (£2 million to recognise the Welsh Government steer of a £2 million increase for mental health support) and the research and innovation budget. It has also allowed for development of proposals for approximately £3.5 million of currently unallocated funding to support tertiary education providers to deliver against Medr’s operating plan. These groupings may change in subsequent years following evaluation of the impact and outcomes of these strategic investments.

Local authority funding for school sixth forms

A unit rate increase of 3.0% has been applied to the funding rates per learner. The methodology for calculating the local authority sixth forms’ allocations has been used since FY 2015-16 and was slightly amended in FY 2023-24 to account for a consistent drop-off of pupil headcount numbers from Year 10 to Year 11. For FY 2025-26 it is slightly amended further due to an added contribution for Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS), added at a rate of 3.91%. The funding methodology uses a combination of historic learner numbers and predicted demographic learner numbers for each local authority, multiplying these by a calculated average programme value. Uplifts for deprivation, sparsity and Welsh medium provision, along with a 3% local authority centrally-retained allowance and the 3.91% TPS contribution, are added to determine the final allocation. Two local authorities, Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent, have no school sixth form provision.

Further education

Full-time provision includes A-level and vocational provision across all educational levels from entry level to level 4 to around 44,000 learners. The methodology for calculating the full-time allocations has been used since 2015-16 with a small changes made in the 2023/24 academic year to account for a consistent drop-off of pupil headcount numbers from Year 10 to Year 11. For the 2025-26 financial year, it is slightly amended further due to an added contribution provided by the Welsh Government towards the increased costs of the Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS) for FE providers, added at a rate of 2.56%. The funding methodology uses a combination of historic learner numbers and predicted demographic learner numbers for each provider, multiplying these by a calculated average programme value. Uplifts for deprivation, sparsity and Welsh medium provision along with a 3% centrally retained allowance, 2% estate maintenance allowance and the now 2.56% TPS contribution are added to this to determine the final full-time allocation. A unit rate increase of 3.0% has been applied to the funding rates per learner.

Additional learning support (ALS) allocations

The total ALS budget available is proportionally split according to each college’s mainstream allocation. This recognises that where a college sees an increase/decrease in learners, it is likely that ALS needs will increase/decrease proportionally.

Higher education

Medr has allocated strategic funding to the Open University in Wales to the value of £605k, the same amount as in AY 2024/25.

Performance element funding for conservatoire provision is allocated to the University of South Wales for provision at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), which is part of the University of South Wales Group. An allocation of £585k to support strategic developments at the RWCMD is provided in addition to the performance element funding provided through the expensive subjects premium. This strategic funding is the same amount as last year.

Premium funding includes allocations for:

Full-time undergraduate provision for:

• Expensive subjects (clinical medicine/dentistry and conservatoire performance element provision).
• Higher cost subjects (non-clinical medicine/dentistry, science, engineering and technology, and mathematical sciences, IT and computing).
• Welsh medium modules.

Part-time undergraduate provision for:

• Welsh medium modules.
• Access and retention.

All modes and levels for:

• Disability premium.  

Research and innovation allocations include:

• Quality Research (QR) funding, which rewards sustainable research excellence;
• Research Wales Innovation Fund (RWIF), which supports the range of knowledge exchange activities that result in economic and social impact, including the wider civic mission role of providers; and
• Postgraduate research (PGR) training.

Strategic budgets

Medr inherited 49 strategic budget lines from HEFCW and the Welsh Government. To enable a more tertiary-focused strategic approach, these separate budget lines have been merged into a smaller number of strategic pots. This signals a move towards a tertiary education approach, breaking down barriers between parts of the tertiary education sector in the way funding is allocated in the future, in line with Medr’s Strategic Plan.

In the future Medr will consult on and publish a funding policy that will set out principles for funding tertiary education, research and innovation in Wales. This will be informed by the new higher education register, where only those in the core category of the register will be eligible for higher education and research and innovation funding. The policy will also take into account Medr’s strategic duties.

Introduction

1. The Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill received Royal Assent in September 2022. The Act established the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, known as Medr, which has assumed responsibility for regulating and funding most tertiary education provision in Wales. Medr became operational from 1 August 2024. This publication represents the first budget and funding publication of its type, including all tertiary sectors and funding provided by Medr.

2. Medr published its first Strategic Plan on 12 March 2025, setting out its ambitions for tertiary education, research and innovation in Wales. These ambitions are cast in founding commitments which have a two-year horizon for delivery, and growth commitments with a five-year horizon for delivery. Funding published in this publication is set in the context of those commitments and the importance of providing stability for providers during a change in oversight of tertiary education, research and innovation in Wales.

3. This publication sets out our overall funding for Medr-funded tertiary education providers in Wales for the academic year (AY) 2025/26. This document also includes individual provider allocations for all core funding and some strategic budgets where available.

4. Medr currently funds further education (FE) on behalf of the Welsh Government through an agency agreement issued under section 83 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. Medr allocates funding through these powers to institutions within the further education sector, local authorities and contracted apprenticeship providers.

5. Medr administers its funding for higher education (HE) based on powers set out in the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, which determines the nature of activities eligible for funding. The activities eligible for funding are predominantly those undertaken by higher education institutions. Some higher education funding is allocated to further education institutions, but Medr is only able to allocate this funding for the provision of prescribed courses of higher education.

6. The agency agreement and powers set out above will continue until the funding powers set out in the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 are implemented.

7. Separately, we regulate institutions that have approved Fee and Access Plans under powers set out in the Higher Education (Wales) Act 2015. As a result of becoming regulated, institutions will have their undergraduate and postgraduate courses automatically designated for student support. For courses that are not automatically designated for student support, we administer a process that allows providers to have courses designated on a case by case basis. These two processes that lead to course designation by the Welsh Government do not relate to our functions to administer funding to institutions. As such, being regulated or having course designation does not result in providers receiving the funds that we administer and have set out the allocations for in this publication.

8. For universities in Wales and other providers in Wales that receive core HE funding, Medr funding does not include payments for tuition fee loans and grants or other student support payments. These are administered by the Welsh Government through the Student Loans Company. Apprenticeship providers, colleges and local authority maintained school sixth forms do not receive tuition fees other than for HE provision, the core funding allocated by Medr represents the majority of their income.

9. The Welsh Government allocates funding to Medr annually on a financial year (FY) basis from 1 April to 31 March. Medr allocates funding to the majority of eligible institutions and providers on an academic year (AY) basis from 1 August to 31 July. We use this format, FY 2025-26, to denote the financial year to 31 March 2026, and this format, AY 2025/26, to denote the academic year to 31 July 2026.

10. In the future Medr will consult on and publish a funding policy that will set out principles for funding tertiary education, research and innovation in Wales. This will be informed by the new higher education register, where only those in the core category of the register will be eligible for higher education and research and innovation funding. The policy will also take into account our strategic duties.

Contents

11. This publication covers all elements of our funding allocation for AY 2025/26. The Welsh Government published its final budget for FY 2025-26 in March 2025. The corresponding funding letter was received in March 2025.

12. This publication includes all formula-driven core grants. Where possible, grants allocated via strategic budgets, which may be subject to the provision of a specific expenditure plan or strategy, are also included.

13. Capital allocation details for HE institutions ^[1] will be announced separately, as will funding allocations for strategic tertiary education initiatives such as well-being and mental health and targeted employability support. For transparency these allocations will be communicated via separate publications.

^[1] Capital funding for the FE estate is provided directly by Welsh Government via the sustainable communities programme.

1. Introduction

1.1 Accounts direction

This accounts direction advises colleges of Medr’s requirements for the format of their audited financial statements for the year 2024/25.

We use the term “college” to refer to further education and sixth-form college corporations, established under the provisions of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

Medr publish the accounts direction on behalf of the Welsh Government, who are the principal regulator of Welsh further education colleges as exempt charities. Compliance with this accounts direction is a requirement of colleges terms of funding with Medr and other public funders.

Colleges in Wales remain subject to the Welsh Government’s Financial Memorandum until Medr’s own regulatory framework comes into effect.

References to Medr are assumed to refer to the collective responsibility to Welsh Government via Medr.

This accounts direction for primarily for use by:

a) principals, chief executives / accounting officers, and finance directors
b) governors
c) external auditors / reporting accountants

1.2 Background

Paragraph 36 of the Financial Memorandum between the Welsh Government and institutions, issued in March 2015 (guidance document no: 160/2015), requires institutions to comply with the Accounts Direction issued periodically by Medr. The direction will cover information to be contained in the financial statements, the manner in which they are to be presented, the methods and principles according to which they are prepared, and that they will be in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice and the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for Further and Higher Education 2019 (‘FE and HE SORP’).

In issuing this direction Medr wishes to ensure the form, content and disclosures within institution’s financial statements follow good practice, are consistent across the sector and meet any specific requirements of the Welsh Government.

Over one thousand employees who faced uncertain futures as a result of Tata Steel UK’s decision to cease blast furnace steel production at Port Talbot have been supported to develop new skills through an innovative programme of local learning.

Funded initially by the Welsh Government and since August 2024 by Medr, the new body responsible for funding and regulating the tertiary* sector in Wales, the Personal Learning Account (PLA) scheme has seen significant uptake, in many cases quickly equipping learners with the skills for alternative employment. 

Over the last academic year alone, the Tata Steel intervention PLAs have supported over 800 Tata workers to undertake 995 PLA courses with a further 215 learners undertaking well over 300 courses supported over recent months.

Ben, a 40 year old father of two teenagers had been working at Tata for 24 years, and is one of the former employees to benefit from a PLA. After identifying and completing multiple courses with the NPTC Group of Colleges, he has now found alternative employment. 

Ben said: “I picked the courses I did because they best suited me as a way of building on and reinforcing my experiences and Tata based training, which is not always officially accredited to external bodies. Having had limited success in the job market for the roles I was interested in, it’s been a real eye-opener to see the impact the accreditations I’ve obtained have had.

“I’ve since had interest from multiple roles and companies and I’ve recently accepted a job on a major UK energy project not far from Port Talbot. I’m really enjoying it.’

Simon Pirotte, Chief Executive of Medr explained: “Clearly, recent events in Port Talbot have required many employees and supply chain businesses to look afresh at their futures.

“What we, and the Welsh Government before us, have managed to do by targeting funding to meet the specific needs of those able to access it, is to work with our colleges, training providers and local businesses to not only provide many with the optimism of alternative employment but in many cases deliver the skills which have helped deliver just that.

“I’m delighted to confirm that following its successes – this ringfenced intervention will continue into 2025/2026”

The Welsh Government Minister for Further and Higher Education, Vikki Howells said: “We made a commitment to the entire community in Port Talbot that they would not be left behind as a result of Tata Steel’s decision to quickly change operations at the steelworks and these bespoke Personal Learning Accounts are an excellent example of how we, working with Medr and partners, are providing impactful interventions to re-skill and support people into alternative local employment.

“I’m very pleased to see Medr continue this intervention into 2026 and would encourage anyone eligible who has not yet accessed it to consider how it might be beneficial to them.”

The Personal Learning Account programme aims to help individuals to upskill or reskill in priority sectors, particularly those earning below the median gross annual figure for full-time adults working in Wales. By focusing on national priority sectors, the programme enhances participants’ career and earnings potential. The Tata Steel PLA removes some of the earning access requirements in order to make the support more tailored for the different needs of the workforce.

Individuals can apply either directly to the colleges or through Working Wales. All institutions will ensure they have a process in place to support Personal Learning Account applications, undertake the initial assessment and process enrolment.

Notes

*The tertiary sector relates to education for people above mandatory school age -including but not confined to college, university, and vocational settings.

A targeted intervention for the Tata workforce has been operational from 1st April 2024. Since then, those  directly employed by Tata Steel UK and the company’s Welsh supply chain have been eligible for a targeted Personal Learning Account (PLA), providing the flexible support necessary to retrain and change career.

All applicants must in addition be offered employability support through the Careers Wales Steps to Employment Programme. Where individuals have confirmed that they would welcome additional support, the Further Education institutions must aim to provide them with the tools needed.

This funding and intervention is in addition to funding announced by the Tata Transition Board.

Universities support each other’s work to improve the representation, experience, progression and success of racially minoritised staff and students within higher education.

All eight universities in Wales – Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Swansea University, University of South Wales, University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Wrexham University – have collaborated to achieve a Race Equality Charter Bronze award. The Race Equality Charter’s mission is to improve the representation, experience, progression and success of racially minoritised staff and students within higher education. It provides a rigorous and robust framework through which institutions work to critically reflect and act on institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of their progression and success.

Anne Mwangi, Head of the Race Equality Charter, said, “This achievement in three years is exceptional and a fantastic outcome for tertiary education in Wales, demonstrating the commitment to advance race equity. REC Bronze is recognition of an institution’s robust foundation for eliminating racial inequalities, developing inclusive cultures and moving from commitment to sustainable and integrated bold and ambitious action.

“The universities have collaborated throughout the process, sharing best practices and innovative approaches that have enriched their individual action plans, each carefully tailored to their specific institutional context. These awards follow rigorous independent peer reviews of each separate application. The reviewers all come from the sector.

“Advance HE looks forward to supporting these institutions as they progress their action plans to advance race equality.”

Kieron Rees, Director of Learner Experience at Medr, said: “This is significant achievement by Wales’s universities. We, like our predecessor body HEFCW, are proud to have been able to support universities in this important work. We would like to pay tribute to the hard work of staff in securing this recognition.

“We know that universities will continue with their progress in this area, building on the strong foundations of having achieved the Advance HE Race Equality Charter Bronze Award. We too will continue to work with the Welsh Government, the tertiary education and research sector, and key sector partners to make progress towards achieving an anti-racist Wales and ensure inclusive learning and work environments for all.”

Professor Paul Boyle, Chair of Universities Wales, said: “This notable achievement by Wales’s universities is testament to the sector’s ongoing commitment to creating safe, inclusive and supportive learning environments for both staff and students. It also highlights what can be accomplished through collaboration and shared purpose.”

The awards in Wales coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Race Equality Charter. Improvements in representation have been seen for racially minoritised staff in the ten years in the UK since the REC was established:

• The proportion of racially minoritised academics has increased by 9.6 percentage points from 12.8% in 2012/13 to 22.4% in 2022/23
• The proportion of racially minoritised professors has increased by 4.4 percentage points from 8.4% of professors in 2012/13 to 12.8% of professors in 2022/23
• The proportion of racially minoritised Heads of Institutions has increased by 10.5 percentage points, from 0% in 2012/13 to 10.5% in 2022/23.

Advance HE will support all eight universities as they work to implement their action plans and progress race equality in Welsh higher education, just as it has done so during the work to achieve these awards.

Notes:

Medr

• Funding was originally provided by Medr’s predecessor body the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) W22/05HE: Consultation on funding to support race equality in higher education to tackle anti-racism and support culture change in higher education, in line with race, access and success policy developments and the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan. The initial publication included the conditions of match funding and the expectation that universities achieve a race equality charter award by 2024/25. All universities confirmed to HEFCW their intention to meet this commitment by the end of 2025.

Advance HE

• This year also marks the twentieth anniversary of the Athena Swan Charter, a framework to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research.  Advance HE’s Equality Charters are catalysts for change – supporting higher education institutions and research institutes in their work to transform their cultures and make an impact on the lives of staff and students. 
• In January 2026, we will be launching the Inclusive Institutions Framework, designed to help institutions align and embed their equality, diversity, inclusion (EDI), widening participation, and access priorities. Find out more.

This news item was originally published by Advance HE: All eight of Wales’s universities have achieved the Race Equality Bronze Award.

Main points

What are graduates doing?

Of graduates from Welsh higher education (HE) providers who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 68% were in paid employment, 1% were doing voluntary or unpaid work, 7% were doing further studies and 11% were doing a combination of work and further studies.
• 6% were unemployed and 7% were doing another activity such as travelling, caring for someone, or retired.

Of graduates from Wales studying anywhere in the UK who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 70% were in paid employment, 1% were doing voluntary or unpaid work, 6% were doing further studies and 11% were doing a combination of work and further studies.
• 4% were unemployed and 7% were doing another activity such as travelling, caring for someone, or retired.
• Full-time undergraduate respondents from the most deprived Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) quintile were less likely to be in full-time employment or full-time further studies, and more likely to be in part-time employment, than those from the least deprived WIMD quintile.
• 6% of full-time undergraduate respondents were unemployed; this was the same for all WIMD quintiles.

Where are graduates working?

Of graduates who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey and said work was their most important activity:

• 88% of those from Wales who studied at a Welsh HE provider stayed in Wales to work.
• 20% of those who studied at a Welsh HE provider but were from the rest of the UK stayed in Wales to work.
• 43% of those from Wales but studied at a HE provider in the rest of the UK returned to Wales to work.

Graduate reflections

Of graduates from Welsh higher education providers who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 84% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity was meaningful.
• 69% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity utilised the skills that they learnt during their studies.
• 75% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity fits with their future plans.

Introduction

1. This circular requests higher education institutions to submit the following information:
• Part 1 – Financial estimates for the current year 2024/25 and financial forecasts for 2025/26 to 2028/29
• Monthly cash flow forecasts for the 12 months to 31 July 2026
• Accompanying narrative commentary
• Part 2 – Student numbers for the current year 2024/25 and forecasts for 2025/26 to 2028/29

More detailed notes of guidance are set out below. Copies of the returns to be submitted are attached at the annexes to this circular, along with further technical information. Electronic copies of some partially pre- completed annexes are being sent to the relevant contacts at institutions in order to commence the forecast submission process. The financial forecast model workbook and commentary (with relevant guidance notes for completion) is attached to this circular at Annex B, in addition to a workbook to include validation checks linking the forecast student numbers to the forecast fee income for home and overseas students (Annexes C1a, C1d C2).

Background and institutional strategic planning

2. We require institutions to submit financial and student number forecast information on an annual basis. This is to enable us to understand the past and expected future financial performance of institutions, and is also an important source of information to support Fee and Access Plan submissions and strategic dialogue between Medr and the institutions.

Strategic context

3. In responding to this circular, institutions should take account of the various key circulars and other publications relating to higher education policy, strategy and funding developments in Wales. Key sources are included below, with links to the prior year publication where the 2025/26 details have not been published at time of issue. These include:
• The Minister’s annual funding letter to Medr announces higher education funding and priorities for the fiscal year.
• Medr Funding assumptions AY 2025/26 have been issued to Heads of institutions.
• Medr circulars setting out core grant allocations. The most recent circulars at time of publication have been referenced:
o Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (Medr/2024/09)

Summary of information requirements

4. We are issuing individualised financial and student forecast data returns to each institution separately. These are sent, as appropriate, to directors of finance and data contacts as nominated by the head of the institution. All institutions should submit their completed returns by the dates indicated to [email protected]. In addition to the specific purposes outlined above, all of the information requested through this circular will provide evidence to inform our Institutional Risk Review process.

5. Institutions should note that we will be seeking high level updates to financial and student forecasts in November 2025. This will be to inform our analysis of the financial implications of changes to the forecasts as a consequence of the updated student recruitment position for 2025/26.

Part 1 – Financial forecasts for the period 2024/25 to 2028/29

6. Our objectives in requesting financial forecasts are to enable us to:
• monitor the financial health of institutions;
• monitor whether institutions’ forecasts take account of the prevailing higher education environment;
• gain assurance that effective financial planning arrangements are in place;
• ensure that governing bodies are appropriately engaged in the financial forecast and planning processes of the institution;
• check that institutions’ strategic and financial planning are integrated; and
• produce information at summary level on the overall trends and financial health of the HE sector in Wales.

7. For the current submission we ask institutions to prepare five-year financial forecasts, covering the period to 2028/29. In order to minimise work load for institutions we have pre-populated the 2022/23 and 2023/24 actuals columns in the models, where possible, to assist with identification of any trends in performance. We have also pre-populated the forecast for the year 2024/25 (as submitted to us in July 2024). We will expect financial forecasts to be based on relevant circulars on funding and student number allocations.

8. Financial forecast information should be submitted to us at [email protected] by 31 July 2025.

9. In preparing the forecasts institutions should make reference to the planning assumptions outlined in Annex A and to the documents listed in paragraph 3 above.

Content of the financial forecasts

10. The form and content of the financial forecast models 2024/25 to 2028/29 is similar to that submitted by institutions in July 2024. Please note that completion of the five-year forecasts, the commentary and the monthly cash flow statement is compulsory and should reflect the requirements of the HEFCW Financial Management Code (FMC) (circular HEFCW W17/16HE) between Medr^[1] and the institutions. The forecasts should be based on realistic assumptions. To aid comparability they should be consistent with any changes to accounting treatment and presentation and allocation in the last financial statements and HESA finance record.

Required returns

11. This circular includes a number of annexes for returning to Medr:
(i) The financial forecast template (Annex B1). We will email the institution specific partially pre-filled tables to data contacts and finance directors.
(ii) The financial forecast commentary (Annex B2) requests further narrative analysis of the tables in the forecast model.
(iii) Monthly cash flow projections for the 12 months to July 2026 are also required.

Summaries of the requirements for each are given below. Guidance on completion of the main forecast is given in Annex B3.

Financial forecast template (Annex B1)

12. We expect any growth over the 2024/25 recruitment figures to be fully explained, with robust supporting evidence provided.

13. The financial forecast includes a ‘down-side’ template for 2025/26. There remain significant uncertainties within the sector and wider economy, and this template provides assurance that your governing bodies have appropriately considered down-side scenarios as well as providing us with data to assess risk to the sector:
(i) Adjustments should also be included in other areas of the forecast where such growth is not certain or where cost is predicated on student number growth, for example facilities and residences.
(ii) Costs are assumed at the level of your 2025/26 forecast. Mitigating actions required should be clearly detailed in the forecast narrative.

14. Detailed guidance on completion of the financial forecast template is given in Annex B3. Guidance on changes to the template are denoted in blue for ease of reference.

Financial forecasts commentary (Annex B2)

15. Institutions should provide a commentary on the financial forecasts using the pro forma at Annex B2. This lists detailed requirements for information on a number of key aspects of the financial forecast, but the overall aim is for institutions to provide:
(i) assurance that the financial forecasts are derived from and are consistent with the institution’s current strategic plan and financial strategy and that there is connectivity to recent financial performance as well as the latest intelligence that could affect forecasts such as student recruitment ;
(ii) additional supporting information on the key assumptions in the financial forecasts; and
(iii) an explanation of important trends in the forecast numbers across the period, especially with respect to the key indicators such as liquidity, operating cash flow, operating surplus and cash generation.
(iv) a narrative on contingency planning for the main challenges identified by the institution. This should include any impact on recruitment of both home and overseas students and returners, together with the financial consequences on tuition fees and related income streams for income, net operating cash flow and cash generation.
(v) In the current climate we would expect the narrative to include consideration of the higher risk exposures to which the institution is exposed, due to the requirement to diversify income from full time UK undergraduate students, and any related additional cost sensitivity and other modelling of these risks
(vi) On the cost side we would expect the narrative to include consideration of the risk of inflationary pressures, both staff and non-staff, and the degree of sensitivity to these of the institution’s plans.
Changes to the requirements from 2024 are highlighted in yellow.

Monthly cash flow forecasts

16. We are requesting submission of monthly cash flow forecasts for the 12 months to July 2026. The preparation of 12 months cash forecasts is a requirement of the Financial Management Code [para 83]. To facilitate this, we are not requiring a prescribed format for these returns. However we do require that:
a. the return is prepared in sufficient detail to clearly identify the main income and expenditure streams;
b. any anticipated utilisation or pay back of investments or borrowing facilities is clearly identified;
c. monthly net cash in / (out) flow is shown;
d. monthly opening and closing cash at bank balances are shown separately from use of short term investments / borrowing facilities; and
e. total liquid assets, and available borrowing facilities are shown on a monthly basis. Where appropriate any restricted cash should be clearly identified as distinct from free reserves.
f. Year-end cash balances should agree to the forecasts submitted.

17. Whilst we will continue to monitor actual cash flows against these forecasts as part of our regular discussions with finance directors, it remains the responsibility of each institution’s governing body to inform Medr of reportable events, including any forecast cash deficits. We would draw your attention to paragraph 84 of the Financial Management Code:
The governing body must inform HEFCW [now Medr] immediately if, at any point in the upcoming 12 months, negative net cash (as defined within FRS 102 S(7), including cash and cash equivalents) is forecast for more than 30 consecutive days.

Part 2 – Student numbers for the current year 2024/25 and forecasts for 2025/26 to 2028/29 

18. The information for student fee income forecasts is required separately at Annex C. The student number information in Annex C is populated automatically from the tables in Annex E, to aid reconciliation with student fees. Guidance for the student number forecast can be found at Annex D.

19. There is an integral relationship between an institution’s assumptions about future changes to its student population and its financial forecasts. Therefore the student forecasts are important features underpinning an institution’s strategic plan and financial forecasts.

20. Institutions are asked to submit, to [email protected], by 31 July 2025 forecasts of all HE student numbers (Home fundable, Home non-fundable and Overseas) for the five years 2024/25 to 2028/29. This includes forecasts of transnational education (TNE) student numbers at EU and overseas (non-EU) campuses, to be included in Annex E, SPF3 and the related fees income to be included in tab Annex C2. Annex D contains information on the tables and guidance to assist the accurate completion of the returns. A template copy of the tables to be completed is attached for information at Annexes C and E. We will email institution individual tables which contain validation and summary information. Tables in tab Annexes C1 and C2 are included in the same workbook as tab Annex E, and credibility checks have been introduced to help check student number returns alongside fee income data. It is these tables that need to be completed and returned.

21. In addition to the forecasts, we are requesting information on student numbers for the current year 2024/25. This is to ensure that we can make comparisons of the most recent student population against the student fee income data returned in tab Annexes C1 and C2. We recognise that it will still include an element of estimation as the academic year will not have ended but will provide us with more accurate numbers to make a comparison with assumptions made in preparing the forecast fee income figures. For reference, figures from Table 1 of the 2024/25 higher education students early statistics (HESES) survey have been included as a supplementary table.

22. In general, the definitions contained in circular Medr/2024/09, Higher Education Students Early Statistics (HESES) survey 2024/25 and in the HESA Aggregate Offshore record should be used in compiling the student forecast information required by this circular. Details can be found in Annex D.

23. Assumptions should be consistent with those presented in Annex A, and any other relevant assumptions used in the preparation of the financial forecasts.

24. Further notes on completion of the tables can be found in Annex D.

Freedom of information

25. We will treat all information provided to us in this circular as confidential.

26. As a public authority Medr is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Act gives a public right of access to any information held by a public authority. Information submitted to Medr may be disclosed on request under the terms of the Act. We have a responsibility to decide whether any responses should be made public or treated as confidential. We may refuse to disclose information in circumstances where disclosure of information would prejudice commercial interests or where information has been provided in confidence (for example, future financial projections). Further information about the Act, including the particular circumstances when information may be withheld, can be found at https://ico.org.uk/ under Freedom of Information Act.

Further information

27. Any queries regarding this circular should be directed to Diane Rowland ([email protected]).

^[1] Existing requirements in place under HEFCW, including the FMC, remain in place under Medr until Medr’s new regulatory framework is in place.

Student satisfaction among undergraduates at college and university has risen in Wales, with 82% of final year undergraduate students saying that they were satisfied with their course this year.

This is up from 80% overall satisfaction in 2024.

The National Student Survey (NSS) is open to final year undergraduate students at higher education providers in the UK nations.

In March 2025, Medr published its Strategic Plan for 2025-2030, outlining its aim to ensure that learners receive the highest-quality provision in a tertiary education sector that strives for continuous improvement.

The NSS is one of the primary indicators of student satisfaction for Medr and the tertiary education sector, capturing comprehensive feedback from final-year undergraduate higher education students on key aspects of their educational experience — from teaching quality and course organisation to how effectively their voices are heard within their institutions.

The survey was open from 11 January to 30 April 2025.

Simon Pirotte, Chief Executive of Medr said:

“We are pleased to see improvements across all question outcomes for Wales in the 2025 NSS compared to the 2024 NSS. It is also encouraging to note that Wales continues to perform broadly in line with UK-wide scores, and exceeding them in the themes of learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, student voice, and the students’ union question. These outcomes are a testament to impactful work across institutions in Wales.

“Throughout the year it has been heartening to see how institutions and students’ unions have worked collaboratively to enhance the student experience and support student success. Congratulations to all on their achievements.

“Welsh institutions take NSS outcomes seriously and are committed to working in partnership with students and their representatives to drive quality enhancement and continuous improvement. Later in the year, our second consultation on registration and funding conditions will include those relating to equality of opportunity, staff and student welfare, the Welsh language and learner engagement. We will also develop a common framework for student health, mental health and well-being.

“As we look ahead to the 2025/26 academic year, the student experience continues to be a defining strength of higher education in Wales. We warmly welcome prospective and future students to study here — where they can expect high-quality degrees, supportive communities, and a truly enriching university experience.”

2025 National Student Survey results: Comparative data for each question covered by the survey

	Question	UK 2024 (positivity score%)	UK 2025 (positivity score%)	Wales 2024 (positivity score%)	Wales 2025 (positivity score%)
1	How good are the staff at explaining things?	91	93	92	93
2	How often of teaching staff make the subject interesting?	81	83	82	83
3	How often is the course intellectually stimulating?	85	86	85	86
4	How often does your course challenge you to achieve your best work?	85	87	85	87
5	To what extent have you had the chance to explore ideas and concepts in depth?	84	85	83	85
6	How well does your course introduce subjects and skills in a way that builds on what you have already learned?	85	87	86	87
7	To what extent have you had the chance to bring together ideas and information from different topics?	84	85	83	85
8	To what extent does your course have the right balance of directed and independent study?	77	79	78	80
9	How well has your course developed your knowledge and skills that you think you will need for your future?	83	85	83	86
10	How clear were the marking criteria used to assess your work/	76	78	78	80
11	How fair has the marking and assessment been on your course?	81	84	83	85
12	How well have the assessments allowed you to demonstrate what you have learned?	82	84	82	84
13	How often have you received assessment feedback on time?	80	83	83	85
14	How often does feedback help you to improve your work?	73	75	74	75
15	How easy was it to contact teaching staff when you needed to?	86	88	86	89
16	How well have the teaching staff supported your learning?	86	88	87	89
17	How well organised is your course?	74	77	75	79
18	How well were any changes to teaching on your communicated?	76	80	77	80
19	How well have the IT resources and facilities supported your learning?	85	87	84	87
20	How well have the library resources (e.g., books, online services and learning spaces) supported your learning?	90	90	90	90
21	How easy is it to access subject specific resources (e.g., equipment, facilities, software) when you need them?	86	88	86	88
22	To what extent do you get the right opportunities to give feedback on your course?	82	85	83	85
23	To what extent are students’ opinions about the course valued by staff?	77	80	78	81
24	How clear is it that students’ feedback on the course is acted on?	63	68	66	69
25	How well does the Students’ union (association or guild) represent students’ academic interests?	73	76	75	78
26	How well communicated was information about your university/college’s mental wellbeing support services?	79	82	74	79
28	Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course	N/A	N/A	80	82

Each question has two options to respond positively – eg “to a great extent” and “to some extent” or “very often” and “fairly often” – and two negative options to respond negatively, with a fifth “This does not apply to me option”. A ’positivity score’ is the percentage of the total sum of the two positive responses available for each question response.

There is no UK score for question 28 as this question was asked to students studying in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland only and not to students studying in England.

Notes:

The National Student Survey (NSS) covers most final year undergraduate students studying for higher education (HE) qualifications at:

• all publicly funded higher education universities and colleges in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland;
• further education institutions in Wales with directly funded higher education students;
• further education colleges in England and Northern Ireland.

The survey, carried out by Ipsos, is funded by the four UK higher education funding and regulatory bodies (Medr, the Office for Students (OfS), the Scottish Funding Council, and the Department for Economy Northern Ireland).

Full results are available on the Office for Students website. The data will be published on the Discover Uni website at a later date, providing information to inform potential students’ choices about where and what to study.

The threshold for publication at institution level is that at least 10 students must have responded, and that these should represent at least half the students eligible to participate.

More than 357,000 students responded to the survey, a 71.5% response rate.

Student satisfaction data for the Open University in Wales is included in the figures for the Open University (though UK-wide, listed as ‘England HEI’).

Previous NSS results are listed on the Office for Students website under “archive of data”.