Shine Bright Like A Diamond

In one of my blogs last semester I talked about the Diamond Review which was to be published in September following a lengthy review into higher education funding, student finance and support in Wales. The review reported in September and it has taken a few months for the recommendations to be released and responded to by Welsh government.

Overall, students’ unions, including NUS Wales, are incredibly happy with the recommendations of the Diamond Review, as we believe that they tackle the cost of being a student where it really matters: in maintenance, the cost of living and support beyond tuition fees.

The recommendations from the review are (but not limited to):

• The Welsh student fee subsidy will be removed and all students from Wales will have a tuition fee of £9000
• However, the money that would have been spent on the subsidy will be focused on a progressive maintenance package. Every student from Wales will receive a non-means tested grant of £1000 – this means regardless of household income and totally non-repayable. From there every student will be eligible to apply for up to £8,100 of grant on a means-tested taper (see below), a huge increase from the current maximum loan of £7000 (and lack of grants at all)
• The taper for means testing for maintenance to be increased to run from £18,000 - £59,000 household income, offering more students the opportunity to access support
• A part-time pro rata maintenance system based on intensity of course
• An interim postgraduate support and loan system, with the aim to provide postgraduate financial support in the same format as undergraduates from 2018
• Reinstating the fee top up payments for those studying medical-based subjects
• HEFCW are to publish all university costs regularly to minimise the impact of hidden costs to students
• To continue the support of the Coleg Cymraeg

I have been working closely and pro-actively with NUS Wales, as a member of Wales National Executive Committee (WNEC) and as AberSU President, to give my thoughts and represent the needs of students in Wales in response to the above recommendations, and highlight any gaps in provision that the review might have missed, and call for Welsh Government to support and implement the package as a whole. All of this has fed into a comprehensive response written by NUS Wales which will tell Welsh Government what the quarter of a million students in Wales need from their financial support system.

This is a progressive and important step forward for student finance in Wales, and I am proud that Wales has proposed a system which hopes to widen access to education, and address the inequality faced by students entering FE & HE, giving more students the opportunity to thrive in an increasingly marketised higher education environment.