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List of universities in Wales

Cardiff University

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][needs update]). 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 2024–25 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][9] No Welsh university features in the top 100 of any of the global tables, although Cardiff makes the top 250 in all three and also places within the top 50 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.[10] 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.[11] In 2022–23, approximately 154,400 students studied at universities or institutes of higher education in Wales, 28,710 of which are international students.[12] Welsh universities generate over £5.3 billion for the Welsh economy.[13]

Universities

English Name Welsh Name Image Year of
foundation 		Location Total HE
students
(2022/23)[12] 		Academic
staff
(2022/23)[14] 		Teaching Excellence Framework Notes
Aberystwyth University Prifysgol Aberystwyth 1872 Ceredigion 8,415 735 Gold Founded as the University College Wales
Bangor University Prifysgol Bangor 1884 Gwynedd 10,825 1,095 Gold Founded as the University College of North Wales
Cardiff University Prifysgol Caerdydd 1883 Cardiff 32,725 3,410 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 13,545 885 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 26,180 1,810 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 21,510 1,760 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 		16,720 870 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 Prifysgol

Wrecsam

1887 Wrexham, Northop, St Asaph 8,545 230 Silver Founded as the Wrexham School of Science and Art and later became a university as Glyndŵr University.

Funding and finances

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:[15]

University Government funding body grants (£m) Funding Body income as % of total income Home-Domiciled Teaching income (£m) Overall Teaching income (£m) Teaching income as % of total income Research income (£m) Research income as % of total income Total income (£m) Operating surplus (£m) 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%

Research Excellence Framework

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:[16]

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

Rankings

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.

University Complete 2025 (National)[17] Guardian 2025 (National)[18] Times/Sunday Times 2025 (National)[19] ARWU 2024 (Global)[7] QS 2025 (Global)[8] THE 2025 (Global)[9]
Aberystwyth University 44 66 48 — 661–670 601–800
Bangor University 75 73 64 601–700 474= 401–500
Cardiff University 27 46 32 151–200 186 201–250
Cardiff Metropolitan University 63 82 66= — — 1001–1200
University of South Wales 94 51 94= — — 1201–1500
Swansea University 39 29 37 401–500 198= 301–350
University of Wales Trinity Saint David 117 80 110 — — —
Wrexham University 130 111 115 — — —

See also

References

  1. ^ "Higher education institutions". HEFCW. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Universities". Universities Wales. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Applications for the Grant of Taught Degree Awarding Powers, Research Degree Awarding Powers and University Title" (PDF). Department for Business Innovation and Skills. August 2004. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Studying for a Research Degree". Wrexham Glyndŵr University. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  5. ^ "The Privy Council, Standard Note: SN/PC/3708" (PDF). The Privy Council. 5 July 2005. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  6. ^ "A brief guide to QAA's involvement in degree-awarding powers and university title". Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2024". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. 15 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b "QS World University Rankings 2025". Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. 4 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b "THE World University Rankings 2025". Times Higher Education. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Funding for higher education in 2022/23". hefcw.ac.uk. Higher Education Funding for Wales. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Universities' finances unsustainable - Cardiff vice-chancellor". BBC News. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Where do HE students study?: Students by HE provider". HESA. HE student enrolments by HE provider. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Higher education in Wales". uniswales.ac.uk. Universities Wales.
  14. ^ "Who's working in HE?". www.hesa.ac.uk.
  15. ^ "What is the income of HE providers?". hesa.ac.uk. Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  16. ^ "REF 2021 Main Online Table". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Complete University Guide 2025". The Complete University Guide. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Guardian University Guide 2025". The Guardian. 7 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Good University Guide 2025". The Times. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
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