There are currently eight universities operating in Wales, all of which receive funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW).[1] [2] Although university status in Wales only requires taught degree awarding powers (since 2004),[3] 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[4]). University status in Wales is conferred by the Privy Council following advice from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.[5] [6] 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 and is the responsibility of the Minister for Education & Skills in the Welsh Government.
In 2022–23 global rankings, three Welsh universities (Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea) featured in all three of the major global rankings: the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the QS World University Rankings, and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.[7] [8] No Welsh university features in the top 100 of any of the global tables, although Cardiff makes the top 200 in all three and also places within the top 40 universities of all three major domestic rankings.
All Welsh universities are public universities and funded in part by the Welsh Government through HEFCW, with an allocation of just over £217 million in 2022-23.[9] 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.[10] In 2021–22, approximately 149,000 students studied at universities or institutes of higher education in Wales, 25,090 of which are international students.[11] Welsh universities generate over £5.3 billion for the Welsh economy.[12]
| English Name | Welsh Name | Image | data-sort-type="number" | Year of foundation | Location | data-sort-type="number" | Numbers of students (2021/22) | Teaching Excellence Framework | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth University | Prifysgol Aberystwyth | 1872 | Ceredigion | 7,845 | Gold | Founded as the University College Wales | |||
| Bangor University | Prifysgol Bangor | 1884 | Gwynedd | 10,505 | Gold | Founded as the University College of North Wales | |||
| Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd | 1883 | Cardiff | 33,985 | Silver | Founded as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. Merged in 1988 with the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology. Merged in 2004 with the University of Wales College of Medicine. | |||
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd | 2011 (origins 1865) | Cardiff | 12,620 | Silver | Founded as the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education in 1976, formed from the merger of four earlier institutes including the Cardiff School of Art & Design (1865). | |||
| University of South Wales | Prifysgol De Cymru | 2013 (origins 1841) | Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd | 23,270 | Did not enter | Formed by the merger of University of Wales, Newport (1975, with origins in 1841) and the University of Glamorgan (1992, with origins in 1913) in 2013. Also incorporates the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama | |||
| Swansea University | Prifysgol Abertawe | 1920 | Swansea | 22,290 | Gold | Founded as the University College, Swansea | |||
| University of Wales Trinity Saint David | Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant | 2010 (origins 1822) | Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, London and Swansea | 15,045 | Bronze | Formed in 2010 by the merger of University of Wales, Lampeter (1822), Trinity University College (1848) and Swansea Metropolitan University (2008, with origins in 1853) | |||
| Wrexham University | PrifysgolWrecsam | 1887 | Wrexham, Northop, St Asaph | 7,490 | Silver | Founded as the Wrexham School of Science and Art and later became a university as Glyndŵr University. |
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:[13]
| University | data-sort-type="number" | Government funding body grants (£m) | data-sort-type="number" | Funding Body income as % of total income | data-sort-type="number" | Home-Domiciled Teaching income (£m) | data-sort-type="number" | Overall Teaching income (£m) | data-sort-type="number" | Teaching income as % of total income | data-sort-type="number" | Research income (£m) | data-sort-type="number" | Research income as % of total income | data-sort-type="number" | Total income (£m) | data-sort-type="number" | Operating surplus (£m) | data-sort-type="number" | Surplus as % of total income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth University | 22.1 | 18.6% | 16.0 | 54.0 | 45.4% | 20.2 | 17.0% | 118.8 | —2.0 | —1.70% | ||||||||||
| Bangor University | 30.3 | 19.8% | 27.6 | 75.8 | 49.4% | 23.4 | 15.2% | 153.4 | —1.5 | —1.01% | ||||||||||
| Cardiff University | 109.5 | 18.1% | 66.6 | 306.9 | 50.8% | 112.6 | 18.6% | 604.6 | 31.4 | 5.19% | ||||||||||
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | 14.8 | 12.1% | 42.3 | 90.2 | 73.8% | 2.4 | 2.0% | 122.3 | 2.9 | 2.34% | ||||||||||
| University of South Wales | 32.7 | 16.3% | 77.1 | 140.0 | 69.9% | 7.5 | 3.8% | 200.2 | 5.8 | 2.89% | ||||||||||
| Swansea University | 50.4 | 14.0% | 66.8 | 184.3 | 51.1% | 62.1 | 17.2% | 360.8 | 27.8 | 7.72% | ||||||||||
| University of Wales Trinity Saint David | 63.3 | 36.4% | 40.1 | 87.0 | 50.0% | 0.6 | 0.4% | 173.9 | 8.2 | 4.72% | ||||||||||
| Wrexham University | 9.2 | 19.6% | 20.1 | 31.6 | 67.2% | 1.1 | 2.4% | 47.1 | 1.7 | 3.68% | ||||||||||
The below lists the outcome of the latest Research Excellence Framework 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:[14]
| Quality profile % | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University | 4* | 3* | 2* | 1* | Unclassified | GPA ranking | Research Power ranking | |
| Aberystwyth University | 26 | 50 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 65 | 76 | |
| Bangor University | 40 | 45 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 77 | |
| Cardiff University | 45 | 45 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 14 | |
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | 20 | 50 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 81 | 99 | |
| University of South Wales | 16 | 45 | 30 | 6 | 3 | 101 | 95 | |
| Swansea University | 35 | 51 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 41 | |
| University of Wales Trinity Saint David | 15 | 34 | 37 | 12 | 2 | 112 | 117 | |
| Wrexham University | 6 | 30 | 44 | 19 | 2 | 123 | 129 | |
See also: Rankings of universities in the United Kingdom.
The following table is a list of Welsh universities by their performance in the three main domestic and three main global university rankings.
| width=200px | University | data-sort-type="number" | Complete 2025 (National)[15] | data-sort-type="number" | Guardian 2024 (National)[16] | data-sort-type="number" | Times/Sunday Times 2024 (National)[17] | data-sort-type="number" | ARWU 2023 (Global)[18] | data-sort-type="number" | QS 2025 (Global)[19] | data-sort-type="number" | THE 2024 (Global)[20] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth University | 44 | 45 | 39 | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=651 | 661–670 | data-sort-value=501 | 501–600 | ||||
| Bangor University | 75 | 54 | 44 | data-sort-value=601 | 601–700 | 474= | data-sort-value=401 | 401–500 | |||||
| Cardiff University | 27 | 29 | 25 | data-sort-value=151 | 151–200 | 186 | 190 | ||||||
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | 63 | 100 | 78 | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=1001 | 1201–1500 | ||||
| University of South Wales | 94 | 72 | 97 | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=1001 | 1001–1200 | ||||
| Swansea University | 39 | 25 | 41 | data-sort-value=401 | 401–500 | 198= | data-sort-value=251 | 251–300 | |||||
| University of Wales Trinity Saint David | 117 | 105 | 117 | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=3001 | — | ||||
| Wrexham University | 130 | 109 | 122 | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=3001 | — | data-sort-value=3001 | — | ||||