What Is The Population Of Wales

Minister's View

IN WALES we have about 27,000 undergraduates studying on a part-time basis. This is an important and significant proportion of our student population.

In November last year, I announced ground-breaking changes to the full-time higher education (HE) funding and student support system in Wales from academic year 2012-13.

Those changes reflected the Welsh Government’s commitment to protect Welsh-domiciled students from increases in tuition fees.

As a result we’ve put in place what I believe is the fairest and most equitable student finance system we’ve ever had. It’s essential that we offer the same level of protection and support to our part-time students.

With that in mind, earlier this week I announced that part-time students, who are ordinarily resident in Wales, will be entitled to the same fee support as those who choose to study full time.

Subject to the Education Bill, I propose to set the maximum amount for part-time tuition fees at £7,000 pro rata rather than £9,000 to encourage more learners to enter HE on a part-time basis.

Welsh-domiciled, part-time students will be entitled to a non-means-tested loan and grant to meet the up-front cost of their tuition fees. This is in line with the support announced for full-time students, a loan will be available to cover a proportion of the fee and a grant from the Welsh Government will be available to cover the remaining cost.

So put as simply as possible – under my proposals HE institutions in Wales could charge a maximum of £7,000 pro rata for a part-time course. Based on a student studying at 50% intensity – the intensity ranges from 25%-75% – the part-time student would pay a fee of £3,500.

The student would be eligible for a loan of £1,732.50 and we, the Welsh Government, would pay the remaining £1,767.50.

The student loan does not have to be repaid until the student is earning, and the fee grant from the Government is non-repayable.

Once again, we are putting forward a made-in-Wales solution which meets the needs of both the HE sector in Wales and Welsh part-time students.

When people ask me why we’ve taken steps to protect Welsh students from higher fees, I simply reiterate that access to HE should be on the basis of the individual’s potential to benefit, and not on the basis of what they can afford to pay.

Alongside this, it is also crucial that we build the future of HE on the secure foundations of social justice and supporting a buoyant economy. HE institutions must be accessible to all and play a part in the community life of Wales. They must also improve the student experience.

Kirsty Williams Speech to Liberal Democrat Local Government ...

Speaking to the Liberal Democrat Local Government Conference in Bristol on Friday 17 June, Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said:

Well, it’s a delight to be here. I don’t often venture over the Severn Bridge, not least because a Gavin and Stacey style panic ensues on every occasion as I scrabble around in the glove box to find the £5.70 to get back home. But with company like this this evening, I think it is well worth the £5.70!

We’ve had a rollercoaster year in Wales. Campaigning hard to achieve a yes vote on the referendum campaign in March and then facing elections to the Assembly in May.

Now, it’s fair to say that these were not the circumstances in which I would have chosen to lead my first election. Despite the issues it has presented though, I know that we – and it was we- made the right decision to go into coalition.

And thanks to the team at Westminster – and the team outside Westminster – on the NHS we have shown that as a party we will take a more robust approach both in terms of standing up for Liberal Democrats values and for communicating our impact to the public and I think that is something that many people will welcome.

The round of elections we have been through have been tough. In Wales, we did okay. We lost one seat overall. Down from six to five, having never achieved more than six in the history of the Assembly.

The biggest blow both professionally and personally for me was loosing my good friend Veronica German who has done so much with ALDC herself.

But it was a long way away from the wipe out that many predicted. And the new group is one in which I find myself the only Assembly member that does not have local government experience.

In Wales, we have a strong record in local Government. Next year, we will be defending the seats gained in 2008, which were the most successful round of local council elections Welsh Liberal Democrats have ever fought.

Just ten years ago, Wales was dominated by the old Labour Party, almost every council still controlled by Labour. The result of our success in 2008 is that now Liberal Democrats across Wales are in power in places as diverse as Swansea and Newport, in rural Powys, in Wrexham and of course in our capital city of Cardiff. Delivering services for 1.5 million people – half the population of Wales with huge success:

In Swansea, Labour had let its leisure centre decline to the point of closure. The new Liberal Democrat led administration delivered a state of the art leisure attraction for residents and visitors. It has delivered a stunning new public transport hub in the city centre.

Based population projections for Wales

The Statesman's year-book

Agricultural Surveys: pts. 1-2. South Wales (1815)

Population-based research in South Wales, the MRC pneumoconiosis research unit and the MRC epidemiology unit

Official year book of New South Wales