Minister guidelines out worldwide pupil levy in Wales

Speaking within the Senedd, Neagle mentioned: “It’s already been confirmed that the student levy will not apply to Wales.

“We should not searching for to average pupil demand on this means and certainly we actually welcome worldwide college students.

“We want out international students to continue to feel welcomed for the positive social and cultural and economic contributions they make in Wales.”

Neagle was responding to a query from Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell, who was against any levy being launched in Wales.

“So far from strengthening universities, the levy risks weakening them and making Wales less globally competitive,” he mentioned.

Universities Wales, the umbrella group representing Welsh universities, has welcomed the announcement.

Chair Prof Elwen Evans mentioned: “International students make a significant economic contribution to Wales as well as enriching our courses, campuses and communities.

“The introduction of a levy – successfully a further tax – would have had detrimental affect on Welsh universities.

“The levy would have increased the financial pressure the sector is under, affecting universities’ capacity to contribute to their local communities and potentially reducing the number of places available for Welsh and UK students.”

All college students from Wales qualify for a £1,000 upkeep grant and there’s a as much as £12,345 obtainable for college students finding out away from residence exterior London by way of a mixture of loans and grants, relying on family earnings.

In Scotland, the utmost annual upkeep mortgage is £9,400 for under-25s, and there’s a variety of bursaries and grants college students there can apply for too.