Medr has a statutory duty to monitor the financial sustainability of tertiary education providers in Wales. This includes ensuring providers have credible plans in place to ensure their short-term financial viability and longer-term financial sustainability.

Today, we are publishing our most recent review of the financial sustainability of the higher education sector.

Based on published financial statements for the academic year to 2024-25 and latest forecasts up to 2027-28, the report provides detailed information at sector level on the operating position, cash balances, sources of income, expenditure, liquidity, cash flow, borrowing and capital expenditure.

The finances of higher education institutions Financial sustainability of the higher education sector in Wales, March 2026

This analysis builds on that previously published as part of the Welsh Government statistical article Outcomes for learners in post-16 education affected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic: August 2020 to July 2021. It aims to provide an up to date picture of progression from Year 11 to tertiary education.

The Year 11 cohorts in this analysis are based on all learners enrolled in Year 11 in maintained secondary, middle and special schools in Wales. Figures for 2025/26 are provisional as they are based on in-year data.

Tertiary education is defined in this analysis as provision that is now funded and regulated by Medr. This encompasses publicly funded provision delivered by maintained school sixth forms, further education colleges and apprenticeship providers in Wales.

This is a change from the previous release where a slightly wider definition of tertiary education was used that included post-16 learning in maintained special schools and the Welsh Government’s Jobs Growth Wales+ / Traineeships employability programmes.

The analysis does not include tertiary destinations in independent schools, other independent or specialist learning providers, adult community learning (including that delivered by colleges), tertiary education outside of Wales or any other post-16 EOTAS (Educated Other Than at School) provision.

Main points

• The provisional proportion of learners progressing from Year 11 to tertiary education was 85% in 2025/26, unchanged from the previous 2 years.
• The number of learners progressing increased steadily between 2018/19 and 2024/25 before falling in 2025/26, in line with changes to Year 11 cohort sizes.
• Of the learners that progressed from Year 11 to tertiary education:
  • An increasing proportion are progressing to further education colleges, with a corresponding decrease in those progressing to sixth forms.
  • The proportion of learners studying at level 3 (including AS levels) continues to decrease.
• There are differences in progression between different groups of learners. The proportion progressing was higher for learners who are:
  • Female
  • Living in the least deprived neighbourhoods
  • Not eligible for Free School Meals
  • Not accessing special educational needs or additional learning needs provision
  • With Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh, or Black, Black Welsh, Black British, Caribbean or African backgrounds
  • Competent or fluent in their acquisition of English as an additional language
  • Attending Welsh medium schools in Year 11 or are fluent in Welsh.
• There was substantial variation in the type and level of tertiary education provision between different groups of learners and geographically.

Introduction

1. This publication sets out the arrangements and timing for additional funding of £4,000,000 to recognise increased participation in further educations institutions (FEI) and local authorities (LA) in the academic year (AY) 2025/26.

2. Welsh Government provided this funding as part of their 2025-26 budget and will be allocated to providers in the financial year 2025-26.

3. This funding will be paid in full in one instalment on 31 March 2026.

Rationale

4. The allocation of £4,000,000 was calculated on a pro-rate basis across the LAs and FEIs to reflect the delivery as reported by Local Authorities in December 2025 and the delivery recorded in the LLWR December 2025 freeze data.

Additional funding amounts and timings

5. An allocation of £3,642,212.57 will be allocated to FEIs for increased participation in the AY 2025/26, as shown in the table below.

Further education institutions	Further education | Additional support for mainstream funding
Bridgend College	£280,283.87
Cardiff and Vale College	£301,014.89
Coleg Cambria	£929,602.79
Coleg Gwent	£104,367.28
Coleg Sir Gâr	-£258,657.33
Coleg y Cymoedd	£357,784.78
Gower College Swansea	£226,639.89
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai	£988,585.74
Grŵp NPTC Group	£397,677.88
The College Merthyr Tydfil	£168,060.99
Pembrokeshire College	£34,632.66
St David’s Catholic Sixth Form College	£112,219.13
Total	£3,642,212.57

6. The reclaim for Coleg Sir Gâr is as a result of an adjustment to a previous allocation.

7. An allocation of £357,787.41 will be allocated to local authorities for increased participation for mainstream funding in AY 2025/26, as shown in the table below.

Local authority	Local authority | Additional support for mainstream funding
Isle of Anglesey County Council	£42,755.87
Cardiff Council	£132,748.79
Denbighshire County Council	£43,596.00
Monmouthshire County Council	£11,708.37
Neath Port Talbot Council	£16,602.54
Pembrokeshire County Council	£66,853.43
Swansea City and County Council	£23,449.58
Torfaen County Borough Council	£10,196.21
Vale of Glamorgan Council	£9,876.62
Total	£357,787.41

8. This funding relates to the period 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026. This additional funding to support increased participation for the AY 2025/26 will be paid in full in one instalment on 31 March 2026.

Introduction

1. Welsh Government have announced an additional £26m capital funding will be made available for allocation within the 2025-26 financial year. The funding can be allocated to expenditure incurred in the 2025/26 academic year, as well as financial commitments entered into by 31 July 2026 supported by contracts or purchase orders. For colleges, the additional money will help with increased participation particularly in vocation courses for example by expanding workshop provision. Previous funding has been used by universities to support projects that reduce their operating costs and enhance student and staff facilities. Capital funding cannot be used to support staff costs directly. However, savings generated by capital investments may bring some revenue savings that ease cost pressures. This additional funding includes £13m for higher education institutions and £13m for further education institutions.

Basis of capital funding allocations

2. The capital funding is allocated based on a formulaic approach and the allocations have been determined based on:

i) Higher education: student numbers. The number of students at an institution represents a reasonable proxy for the amount of estate and facilities required. The student numbers used for the initial allocation are the HESA Student Record Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) for all modes, levels and domiciles based on the 2023/24 academic year. A minimum allocation of £975,000 has been applied. Given its limited estate in Wales, the OU will have a minimum threshold set at 50% (£487,500) to contribute to projects that will benefit Welsh students. This is the same basis on which the £10m capital funding was allocated in October.

ii) Further education: 2025/26 total allocation. The initial full‑time allocation for the 2025/26 academic year has been determined using learner headcount and programme value information taken from the latest LLWR data and informed by data from PLASC. The additional capital allocation has been distributed on a pro rata basis, aligned to each provider’s share of the total allocation, based on learner headcount.

Allocations

3. The resulting allocations for each institution are provided in Annex A for further education and higher education institutions.

Confirmation of ability to spend

4. Given the limited timeframe to distribute this funding, in lieu of fully scoped plans we instead require institutions to confirm via email to [email protected] that they are able to utilise their allocation against relevant projects in the 2025/26 academic year. Please note that these must be developments within Wales (or in the case of digital, projects that will directly benefit Welsh students).

5. Should an institution foresee being unable to use their full allocation, they should notify Medr at the earliest opportunity and any residual funds will be reallocated to other institutions via the formulaic approach described previously.

Guidance

6. Guidance will follow this publication outlining the eligible spend, as will a template to report on expenditure.

Annual monitoring

7. A monitoring exercise will be undertaken in 2026 at a suitable date to ensure that the funding has been used as intended and to provide an update on the impact that the investment has had.

8. Institutions will be expected to provide a breakdown of the capital spend and detail any projects that the funding has contributed to.

Timetable

9. Medr will schedule payment of the allocated funds to institutions upon receipt of the above confirmation and on 31 March 2026.

10. The annual monitoring process will take place in 2026 at a suitable date.

Further information

11. For further information, contact [email protected].

Annex A

Additional higher education capital funding modelling 2025/26

Institution	2023/24 Student FTE	Allocations pro rata to (£): FTE	Percentage allocated to each institution FTE
University of South Wales	19,177	£1,986,656.20	15%
Aberystwyth University		£975,000	8%
Bangor University		£975,000	8%
Cardiff University	28,326	£2,934,453.95	23%
University of Wales Trinity Saint David	11,755	£1,217,768.35	9%
Swansea University	19,009	£1,969,252.10	15%
Cardiff Metropolitan University	10,578	£1,095,836.12	8%
Wrexham University		£975,000	8%
Open University in Wales	8,408	£871,033.28	7%
Total	97,253.00	£13,000,000.00	100%

Source: HESA student record 2023/24

• Student Numbers not used in calculation: HESA standard registration population, all modes, levels and domiciles.
• FTE’s used in calculation: HESA Session Population, all modes, levels and domiciles.
• Please note that rounding has been applied to FTE values following use in calculations.

Additional further education capital funding modelling 2025/26

Institution	2025/26 Allocation	Allocations pro rata to (£): FTE	Percentage allocated to each institution FTE
Bridgend College	21,257,267	£647,440.95	4.98%
Cardiff and Vale College	51,838,831	£1,578,875.68	12.15%
Coleg Cambria	51,831,161	£1,578,642.08	12.14%
Coleg Gwent	59,626,840	£1,816,078.14	13.97%
Coleg Sir Gâr	28,960,384	£882,057.82	6.79%
Coleg y Cymoedd	44,337,120	£1,350,393.11	10.39%
Gower College Swansea	36,295,608	£1,105,469.62	8.50%
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai	50,512,285	£1,538,472.55	11.83%
Grŵp NPTC Group	34,051,497	£1,037,119.85	7.98%
The College Merthyr Tydfil	13,503,613	£411,284.86	3.16%
Pembrokeshire College	16,837,610	£512,829.72	3.94%
St David’s Catholic Sixth Form College	9,656,971	£294,126.17	2.26%
Adult Learning Wales (ALW)	8,116,566	£247,209.45	1.90%
Total	426,825,753	£13,000,000.00	100%

Future of this publication

Medr intends to review whether this publication could be incorporated into our Students in higher education and Staff at higher education institutions publications as there is considerable overlap. We plan to speak to users to understand whether this can be done without impacting the use of the statistics while making more efficient use of resources.

If you would like to provide your thoughts on this and how you use this publication please contact us at HEStats@medr.cymru by 29 May 2026.

Main points

Students

Students are counted per enrolment, so if a student is enrolled on multiple courses in an academic year then they will be counted multiple times. The data includes enrolments at all Welsh providers that submit data to the HESA student record. This includes providers that are funded directly for higher education provision by Medr and providers in Wales that return data to HESA about specifically designated courses.

• The proportion of enrolments by students with a disability steadily increased from 14% in 2018/19 to 22% in 2024/25.
• The proportion of enrolments by students from the UK with an ethnic minority background increased from 12% in 2018/19 to 17% in 2022/23.
• The majority of enrolments were by female students. 57% of enrolments have been by female students each year since 2022/23.

Staff

The data about staff relates to staff at the eight universities in Wales who submit data to the HESA staff record. The Open University in Wales is not included as the data collected about Open University staff covers the entire United Kingdom and not Wales specifically.

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.

• From 2018/19 to 2024/25, the proportion of staff who had a disability steadily increased.
  • For academic staff the proportion increased from 5% in 2018/19 to 8% in 2024/25.
  • For non-academic staff the proportion increased from 7% in 2018/19 to 11% in 2024/25.
• From 2018/19 to 2024/25, the proportion of staff with an ethnic minority background increased.
  • For academic staff the proportion increased from 12% in 2018/19 to 20% in 2024/25.
  • For non-academic staff the proportion increased from 5% in 2018/19 to 7% in 2024/25.
• The majority of academic staff has historically been male. In 2024/25 there were still slightly more male academic staff (5,560 members of staff) than female (5,495), but both accounted for 50%. In comparison, 53% of academic staff were male in 2018/19.
• The majority of non-academic staff were female. 63% of non-academic staff were female in 2024/25, which is similar to earlier years.

Further information can be found in the full report and in the accompanying Power BI dashboard.

Main points

Apprenticeships

• The success rate of apprenticeships increased by 2 percentage points in 2024/25 to 77%, it remains lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Higher apprenticeships showed the strongest recovery in 2024/25.
• Among the larger sectors, there was an increased success rate in:
  • Management and professional;
  • Business administration;
  • Health care and public services.
• The only sectors to see the success rate fall were:
  • Construction;
  • Engineering.
• The success rate gap between learners in the most deprived areas and least deprived areas has closed to 2 percentage points.
• The success rate for learners with disabilities and/or learning difficulties was 6 percentage points lower than learners with no disability and/or learning difficulty.
• Apprenticeship activities completed bilingually and in English had similar outcomes.
• The success rate for older age groups increased, whereas the success rate for younger age groups stagnated.

Apprenticeship success rate by academic year

Figure 1: August 2015 to July 2025

Description: The apprenticeship success rate continues to recover post-pandemic. A gap still exists between the current success rate and pre-pandemic success rates.
(Data on StatsWales)

Adult community learning

• The completion rate for adult community learning activities increased from 95% in 2023/24 to 96% in 2024/25.
• The success rate for assessable adult community learning activities remained at 87% in 2024/25, the first time it has not increased post-pandemic.
• The sectors that saw the largest increase in overall success rates were:
  • History, Philosophy and Theology;
  • Construction, Planning and the Built Environment.
• Sectors that saw the largest fall in success rates were:
  • Independent Living Skills;
  • Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies.
• Learning delivered by local authorities via a franchise arrangement with a further education (FE) institution saw the largest increase in success rate, although it remained the lowest provision type.

Adult learning success rate by academic year

Figure 2: August 2015 to July 2025

Description: The adult community learning success rate stopped increasing for the first time post-pandemic. The completion rate has recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
(Data on StatsWales)

Main points

Overview

Outcomes for general education are broadly in line with 2023/24 figures, while vocational outcomes have increased

Figure 1.1: Summary of achievement measures by academic year, August 2023 to July 2025

Description: 76% of A level learners completed their two-year programme in the 2024/25 academic year. 90% of vocational learners completed their programme. 70% of Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales learners completed the qualification.

[Note 1] The Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales is a two-year qualification that was introduced in September 2023 and awarded for the first time in summer 2025. Outcomes are only available for 2024/25.

General education (A levels)

• Grade outcomes remain higher than pre-pandemic levels, but there was a decrease in the proportion of learners achieving at least three As compared to 2023/24.
• There was a small increase in AS level and A Level completion and a small decrease in the proportion of learners who went onto their second year of A levels in 2024/25.
• Females had better outcomes than males in general education programmes, apart from learners achieving three A*s.
• 52% of female AS learners went on to achieve at least three Cs at A level, compared to 40% of male learners.
• 48% of 16 year old AS learners went on to achieve at least three Cs at A level, compared to 24% of older learners.
• Learners from deprived backgrounds were less likely to complete their A levels and less likely to get high grades if they did.
• Learners from Other ethnic groups were more likely to achieve at least three A Levels in 2024/25. Mixed, Multiple ethnic groups was the only ethnic group to see an increase in achieving at least three As compared to 2023/24.

Vocational education

• Vocational outcomes at all programme levels improved in 2024/25, except for Entry Level which has declined.
• Levels 1 to 3 vocational outcomes are now at or above pre-pandemic figures.
• Success rates for courses undertaken as part of Personal Learning Account programmes vary by subject sector area, from 97% in Retail and Commercial Enterprise to 47% in Information and Communication Technology.
• There was a small increase in learners who did not complete their programme due to ‘Gone into employment’ and ‘Financial reasons’ in 2024/25.
• Vocational learners linked to experiences of deprivation had lower outcomes than those who were not, but the relationship was less strong than in general education.

Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales

• Learners studying general education programmes had higher Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales outcomes than learners studying vocational programmes.

Fran will oversee the Finance, Digital and Information Directorates, as well as the People and Culture, and Board Secretariat and Corporate Planning teams.

Bethan will be responsible for Medr’s regulatory and analytical functions, ensuring a proportionate and risk-based approach to monitoring compliance, and providing a strong evidence base for future planning and decision-making.

Fran said:

“I am thrilled to have joined Medr as Chief Operating Officer. I passionately believe education matters and I relish working with the talented team at Medr to build on what’s been achieved since it became operational in August 2024. At a time when the education sector faces unprecedented challenges, I am committed to ensuring that Medr plays a pivotal role in helping to improve learner experience and outcomes and widen participation in tertiary education, ultimately achieving the ambitions in its strategic plan.”

Bethan said:

“I am delighted to have joined Medr and am looking forward to building strong relationships across the sector, based on mutual respect and trust. I am determined to deliver a proportionate and risk-based regulatory approach that enables the provision of excellent learner pathways in Wales. By working collaboratively and iteratively, I believe we have a unique opportunity at Medr to effect meaningful change for the benefit of learners, providers and the people of Wales.”

James Owen, Chief Executive of Medr said:

“I am delighted to welcome Fran and Bethan to Medr. It was fantastic to attract such significant interest and talent in these crucial leadership roles as we continue to strengthen our team to deliver our strategic plan for the tertiary education and research sector.

“Fran will bring a wealth of experience to the role and always approaches her work with energy, determination and good humour.

“Bethan combines deep analytical skills with a passion for empowering others to fulfil their potential and building effective teams.

“Their leadership and expertise will be crucial in supporting our foundation aim to establish Medr as a highly effective organisation and trusted regulator.”

Update: 24 March 2026

Since the initial publication of our statement below, the Welsh Government has provided an update about the temporary designation of performing arts and related courses delivered by unregulated providers in England for the 2026/27 academic year.

4 March 2026

Medr was last year made aware of issues regarding Welsh-domiciled students being unable to access student finance for certain specialist performing arts degrees delivered through university partnerships in England. Whilst Medr has no involvement in the automatic designation of courses for student support, we have continued to monitor the situation and highlighted to the Welsh Government the impact it is having on prospective learners and their future aspirations.

Last year, the Welsh Government and Student Finance Wales reviewed the automatic designation of franchise providers of English institutions registered by the Office for Students. Through this process, they found a number of instances whereby franchise providers had been incorrectly uploaded to Student Loan Company systems by the franchising institution.

This does not represent a change in the way that courses are designated – it represents an error made by the franchising institution.

It is important to emphasise that it is the responsibility of the franchising institution to ensure it is aware of the support available to students and to communicate that accordingly. It should also be noted that student support legislation differs across the four nations of the United Kingdom and eligibility in one jurisdiction does not automatically confer eligibility in another.

Only providers meeting the legislative criteria, such as being registered with the Office for Students, are automatically designated. Further information on the automatic designation of higher education courses can be found on the Welsh Government website.

Where automatic designation is not available, the franchising institution may apply, on behalf of their franchise provider, to Medr for Specific Course Designation for Welsh domiciled student support. Medr is then responsible for assessing applications for Specific Course Designation and advising Welsh Ministers on their eligibility.

If Specific Course Designation is granted by Welsh Ministers, the tuition fee loan available to students is set at the lower fee limit, currently £6,355 (rising to £6,525 for the 2026/27 academic year). We remain available to discuss designation processes or application routes with any franchising institution or provider seeking clarity.

It may also be worth noting the Welsh Government consulted last year on changes to the designation policy. Separately, the UK Government have also proposed in a recent consultation that franchised delivery partners with 300 or more students must be registered with the Office for Students for courses they deliver to be designated for student finance. This will require many providers to register with the Office for Students and would affect their eligibility for designation in Wales, particularly in the context of the proposed changes by the Welsh Government.

This information is intended to set out clearly Medr’s role in relation to course designation following a number of concerned correspondence with Medr on this issue.

Introduction

1. This publication sets out the funding awarded to further education (FE) institutions for Junior Apprenticeships provision in academic year 2024/25.

2. Funding is awarded in arrears at £512,586.34 for FE institutions as shown in the table below.

Further education institution	Total allocation £
Bridgend College	171,673.25
Cardiff and Vale College	179,926.67
Coleg Sir Gâr	27,996.78
Gower College Swansea	52,739.26
Grŵp NPTC Group	80,250.38
Total	512,586.34

3. This funding relates to payments made during the period 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025.

Introduction

1. The key next steps on the development and implementation of the new apprenticeship programme 2027 are:

Date	Activity
17 February 2026	Publication of the report on the outcomes of the consultation on the new apprenticeships programme
16 April 2026 and 22 April 2026	Engagement sessions with tertiary education providers on the new apprenticeship programme funding model
13 May 2026 14 May 2026 20 May 2026	Regional events to test the design of the new apprenticeship programme: North Wales Mid Wales South Wales
11 May 2026 – 19 June 2026	New apprenticeship programme funding model consultation
3 June 2026	New apprenticeship programme funding model consultation online event
w/c 3 August 2026	Publication of the outcomes of the new apprenticeship frameworks funding model consultation report
1 September 2026 – 31 December 2026	Publication of the apprenticeship programme grant and submission of applications and bids(further information will be published on this process in due course)
April 2027	Grant Award Letters issued
1 August 2027	New apprenticeship programme commences

Further information

2. Any queries regarding this circular should be directed to Heather Davidson, Head of Apprenticeships ([email protected]).

Main points

• There were 161,920 learners in further education, apprenticeships or local authority community learning during the 2024/25 academic year.
• Full-time further education learners increased to a record high.
• Provisional data suggests the rising trend in full-time further education learners is continuing in 2025/26.
• Part-time learner numbers decreased, for the first time in 4 years.
• The number of apprenticeships started was the lowest since these statistics began.
• Local authority community learning numbers are higher than before the pandemic.
• Level 2 full-time further education has been rising consistently.
• There has been a rise in fluent Welsh speakers taking activities with a ‘significant amount’ of Welsh medium learning.
• Learners taking further education, apprenticeships, and community learning are more likely to live in deprived neighbourhoods.
• 1 in 6 learners have a learning difficulty or disability, the most since these statistics began.
• Learners are more diverse than the Welsh population.

Learners by learning and provider type

Figure 1: August 2024 to July 2025

Description: There were 127,530 learners in colleges. There were 46,140 apprentices, split between colleges and other training providers.

[Note 1]: Some learners will have studied at multiple provider types.

Further education includes learners studying A levels and other general qualifications, as well as learners studying vocational qualifications (for example BTECs).

Local authority community learning is community learning funded by Medr, that is delivered directly by local authorities.