Universities Wales election manifesto

Since it was established (as the Welsh Assembly, in 1999) the Senedd has been led by Labour, by itself or in some form of a multi-party agreement.

If the polls are accurate, this quarter-century reign may be coming to an end. Plaid Cymru and Reform look set to become the two largest parties, with changes to the electoral system and voting behavior suggesting a coalition led by Plaid will form a government come May 2026.

We are very much into the “long campaign” at this point, with manifestos and proposals being published and debated. Universities for a Stronger Wales is the manifesto put forward by Universities Wales on behalf of the sector. But it owes a debt to another manifesto – the general election manifesto of Plaid Cymru.

Plaid’s big idea is to increase the number of Welsh-domiciled students studying at Welsh universities. A part of this would come through a rethink of the Seren Network, which offers support for sixth-form learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. It currently works in partnership with Cardiff University and the University of Aberystwyth – the aim would be to link it more closely to what is offered by all Welsh universities.

There’s also a drive to develop “personalised and flexible pathways” for mature learners – recognising learning from elsewhere and developing short courses. A Lifelong Learning Allowance – encompassing grants (including a £5,000 personal learning account), loans, and free provision – would allow over-25s to train or retrain. Tuition and maintenance loans would be available at levels 4, 5, and 6 would cover further and higher education from age 18 up.

And we should also note the ambition to properly devolve research and development funding – with Wales’ overall share of total expenditure transferred as a block grant for allocation in ways that make sense for the nation.

It’s very much worth bearing the Plaid manifesto in mind when you look at the asks from Welsh universities. Though much of the action is caveated by asking for an independent review (actually three of them, as we shall see) the aims are very similar. Universities are keen, to examine the incentives available for Welsh students to study at Welsh providers within an independent review of university funding and student support.

The section on opportunity and social mobility features another independent commission on participation – which would examine the student support package, the opportunities presented by Seren, and new opportunities for lifelong learning. There’s yet another commission on the design of apprenticeships, which dovetails neatly with the Plaid ambition to think about skills needs sector by sector. The research section looks at the kinds of increases in funding that full devolution could offer – though it stops short of calling for Wales-specific research councils.

A part of the skill of writing these manifestos is to make a sector appealing to an incoming government. And it feels like Universities Wales reckons that the polls are a fair indication of who will be in the Senedd driving seat come next year.