Subsidising students in England is 'unfair' – Plaid Cymru

The Plaid Cymru party has called for a cross-party consensus on the future funding of universities, after figures showed that Wales is the only nation in Britain where students are more likely to apply to universities outside the country where they live, writes Martin Shipton for Wales Online.

The party backed the concerns of senior university figures who have argued that the Welsh government’s policy of subsidising the tuition fees of Welsh students was leading to money for higher education draining out of Wales. In Wales 23% of 18-year-olds applied this year to universities within the country while 24% applied to universities elsewhere. That was a significantly higher percentage than in England, where the figures were respectively 35% and 7%, while in Scotland the figures were 32% and 4%.

At present all students domiciled in Wales have the majority of their tuition fees paid by the Welsh government, whether they attend universities in Wales or in the other UK nations.
Full report on the Wales Online site