| Practice area: | Economics of Education | Education and Labour Markets | Higher education |
|---|---|
| Client: | Higher Education Policy Institute |
| Published: | 26 February, 2026 |
| Keywords: | economics of education higher education 2026 Public Policy |
Ahead of the forthcoming Senedd Election on 7th May 2026, we were commissioned by the Higher Education Policy Institute to assess the resource flows and cost implications associated with the Welsh higher education (HE) funding system. In particular, we analyse the impact of the potential policy positions of Welsh political parties ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections. Since the parties’ official manifestos for the Senedd elections have not been launched yet, the analysis is instead based on other recent policy papers published by the different parties (where possible and applicable), to provide an indication of their potential future manifesto pledges on HE funding.
Focusing on the 2025-26 cohort of first-year Welsh domiciled undergraduate students, we model three scenarios:
- The current Welsh HE funding system under Welsh Labour (assuming that they would stick to the current system);
- A reduction in maintenance grants provided to Welsh domiciled undergraduate students studying elsewhere in the UK, as previously proposed by Plaid Cymru in their New Economic Plan in April 2025; and,
- The removal of nominal loan interest rates and an extension of the loan repayment period to 45 years, as set out by Reform UK in their manifesto for the 2024 UK General Election.
The report is available here.