About higher education in Wales
Higher education in Wales is offered mainly through Wales's 11 universities - higher education institutions - including the Open University in Wales. It is also offered at a number of further education colleges.
- Higher education is a 'devolved' area, which means that most decisions that are made about HE in Wales are taken by the Welsh Government.
- Higher education institutions are private bodies which are independent of government. They receive their income from a number of sources, including from student fees, through research projects and by generating business. However, they also receive a portion of their income from public funds. In HEFCW, we distribute these funds from the Welsh Government and act as an intermediary between the HE sector and government.
- The Welsh Government also provides the context for developing higher education in Wales through, for example, setting up the student fees and finance framework, and devising strategies for HE in Wales.
- The financial support for students who study in Wales - whether from Wales, the rest of the UK, the European Union or the rest of the world - is different to other countries of the UK.
- Wales continues to work on an England and Wales or UK-wide basis in areas such as the annual survey of student satisfaction, assessments of the quality of research in higher education and applying to university.
This section gives some key facts about higher education in Wales, including an overview of each higher education institution, and provides links to follow for further information.
