Student support for higher education (headline data): 2022 (provisional)

This data provides a summary of the statistics outlined in the Student Loans Company (SLC) publication Student Support for Higher Education in Wales 2021/22. The publication covers applicants and students domiciled in Wales taking a designated higher education (HE) course at a university or further education (FE) college in the UK, as well as EU (outside UK) applicants and students taking a designated course in Wales.

Following the Diamond review of Welsh student funding, there were policy changes made in 2018/19 which saw tuition fee grants being phased out and reduced maintenance loan amounts offset by increased Welsh Government Learning Grants (WGLG).

Main results

• 2020/21 was an outlier year which experienced some significant increases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is possible that some of the decreases in 2021/22 are a result of being compared to an unusually high year.
• The amount paid out in supporting higher education students was £1.2 billion, a slight decline (1.8%) from 2020/21.
• The number of students receiving funding was 83,700, down 3% from 86,300 in 2020/21.
• Since 2013/14 the amount paid out in higher education funding has increased by 75.5% (in cash terms) from £671.6 million, while the number of students receiving funding has increased by 28.9% (from 65,000).

Undergraduate tuition fee support

The total amount paid out for tuition fee loans for full-time undergraduates declined by 1.2% since the previous year, to £464.9 million.

Undergraduate maintenance support

The number of full-time undergraduates in receipt of maintenance loans declined by 1.4% to 56,600 full-time undergraduates. The amount paid increased by 10.3% from £293.4 million in 2020/21 to £323.7 million in 2021/22. The significant increase in amount paid is a result of the increase in the maximum maintenance loan available in comparison to academic year 2020/21.

A total of £217.1 million was awarded in full-time WGLG a decline of 5.8% from the £230.4 million awarded in 2020/21.

Postgraduate support

£68.5 million in postgraduate loans (masters and doctoral) was paid, a decline of 11.9%.

£22 million in postgraduate grants (masters only) was paid. A substantial decline (17.8%) from last year (£26.7 million) which experienced high levels of growth. Postgraduate loans and grants are still higher than they were in 2019/20.

2022/23 early in-year data

Early in-year data for 2022/23 shows around 71,800 students receiving funding, a small decrease compared to the 74,500 at the same time last year.