7. United Kingdom Independence Party Debate: University Finance

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:55 pm on 6 June 2018.

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Photo of Llyr Gruffydd Llyr Gruffydd Plaid Cymru 4:55, 6 June 2018

Now, we need to address the issue that we currently have—that net loss of graduates that we've heard about, and also the skills gaps that we have in vital sectors such as medicine and the STEM subjects. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service's data has shown a decline of around 14 per cent between 2015 and 2017 in the number of Welsh domiciled students applying to study medicine for all UK medicine courses, so there is an issue there that clearly needs tackling. And, more generally, we heard reference earlier to the report by the Resolution Foundation think tank back in August last year, telling us that Wales attracted nearly 24,000 graduates between 2013 and 2016, but that over 44,000 left, which was the net difference that Darren Millar referred to—over 20,000 students. Indeed, only two other parts of the UK had a worse figure than Wales, and they were Yorkshire and Humber and the north-east of England. This hasn't been recognised as an issue, I know, and Professor Diamond in his review certainly recognised the need to attract graduates to live and to work in Wales. Indeed, he recommended, as part of his work, that the Welsh Government incentivises students to bring or retain their skills to the benefit of Wales, and he outlined how the Welsh Government should consider maybe looking at permitting partial loan cancellation for those working in jobs in Wales that require a loan payment. But, of course, we're still waiting for definitive action from the Government in that respect. 

Now, Plaid Cymru has supported, of course, the move in terms of the way that funding is given, from tuition fee grant to maintenance grant, and we are very much aware that those upfront costs are a barrier, or the living costs are a barrier to many from obtaining the university education that they want to receive. But we have to tackle the loss of vital skills and knowledge within the Welsh economy, as we see young people leaving to study elsewhere and not, of course, very often returning to Wales.