There are currently eight universities operating in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, all of which receive funding from the

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) was the Welsh Government Sponsored Body responsible for funding the higher education sector. It was replaced by Medr, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research from August 2024. ...

(HEFCW). Although university status in Wales only requires taught degree awarding powers (since 2004), most Welsh universities have the power to award both taught and research degrees (research degrees at Wrexham University are validated by the

University of Chester The University of Chester is a public university located in Chester, England. The university originated as the first purpose-built teacher training college in the UK. As a university, it now occupies five campuses, campus sites in and around Ch ...

). University status in Wales is conferred by the Privy Council following advice from the

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (usually referred to simply as the Quality Assurance Agency or QAA) is the United Kingdom higher education sector's independent expert quality body. It has a remit to maintain and enhance the qu ...

. The criteria for university status were set by the UK government in 2004; since then higher education in Wales has become a devolved matter under the

Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system ...

and is the responsibility of the Minister for Education & Skills in the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

. In 2024–25 global rankings, three Welsh universities ( Bangor,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

) featured in all three of the major global rankings: the

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

, the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

, and the

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

. No Welsh university features in the top 100 of any of the global tables, although Cardiff makes the top 250 in all three and also places within the top 50 universities of all three major domestic rankings. All Welsh universities are

public universities A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

and funded in part by the

through HEFCW, with an allocation of just over £217 million in 2022-23. Welsh universities also charge tuition fees capped at £9,000 per year for UK students, unlike other parts of the UK which have fees capped at £9,250, on undergraduate courses. In the 2023–24 academic year, approximately 150,700 students studied at universities or institutes of higher education in Wales. Included in the figure are 68,900 students normally domiciled in Wales, 52,100 from the rest of the United Kingdom and a further 27,800

international students International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their Secondary education, secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 m ...

. Welsh universities generate over £5.3 billion for the Welsh economy.

Universities

Funding and finances

The total consolidated annual income for Welsh universities for 2020–21 was £1.78 billion of which £230.0 million was from research grants and contracts, with an operating surplus of £74.2 million. £332.2 million was received from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales via grants and £356.7 million was received from tuition fees of Home-domiciled students. The table below is a record of each university's financial data for the 2020–21 financial year as recorded by the

Higher Education Statistics Agency The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) was the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education in the United Kingdom. HESA became a directorate of Jisc after a merger in 202 ...

Research Excellence Framework

The below lists the outcome of the latest

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is ...

undertaken in 2021 (the next REF is scheduled for 2028) by the four UK higher education funding bodies. The quality of research was rated 4* (world leading), 3* (internationally excellent), 2* (recognised internationally), 1* (recognised nationally) and unclassified. GPA measures the quality of research and Research Power is calculated by the GPA score of a university multiplied by the full-time equivalent number of researchers submitted. The rankings are out of 129 institutions across the UK:

Rankings

The following table is a list of Welsh universities by their performance in the three main domestic and three main global university rankings.

References

{{Education in the United Kingdom *

Uni Uni

Universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Universities

Funding and finances

Research Excellence Framework

Rankings

See also

References