Since May 2026 the Senedd has focused on university finances, including a Welsh Government review of higher education, and on funding pressure in further education colleges. Members have also pressed ministers on apprenticeships, skills shortages and young people not in education, employment or training. Plaid Cymru ministers point to a skills audit and summit. Opposition Members ask what will change now.
The main arguments
Deputy Minister Cefin Campbell (Plaid Cymru) said universities face funding, student market and demographic pressures, with a collective underlying deficit of £82 million in 2024-25. Adrian Mason (Reform UK) cited a £79 million deficit and asked for certainty on the fee cap. Contributions: [1][2]
May 2021Mar 2026
3,125 contributions in the Sixth Senedd touched on this. The busiest month was Oct 2022, with 315.
Who raises it
Labour61%
Conservative19%
Plaid18%
Independent1%
Lib Dem1%
Reform0%
Share of the 2,113 contributions on this subject, by the speaker's party.
Benjamin Hodge Mckenna (Reform UK) raised student debt and value for money. Vikki Howells (Welsh Labour) wanted Wales to set its own plan 2 interest rates. Andrew RT Davies (Welsh Conservatives) asked about Treasury Committee proposals on loan information and interest. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru) said participation gaps between areas are wide and the review will address them. Kiera Marshall (Plaid Cymru) asked about widening access. Stephen Senior (Reform UK) asked for a strategy to create a top 100 university in Wales. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Vikki Howells and Lynne Neagle (Welsh Labour) said FE colleges face participation and funding pressure, with over 500 students on waiting lists at Coleg y Cymoedd. Joshua Kim (Reform UK) raised the same waiting lists. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Lynne Neagle and Vikki Howells (Welsh Labour) criticised a review limited to universities and wanted the wider tertiary call for evidence used. Neagle noted the Deputy Minister's commitment to publish its responses. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Cefin Campbell said a skills audit and summit would set direction. Sam Rowlands (Welsh Conservatives) and Helen Jenner (Reform UK) said employers need action now. Rowlands noted Wales offers only four apprenticeship areas. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Cefin Campbell said about 47,000 young people in Wales are NEET and he will lead a ministerial group. Sam Rowlands cited 17 per cent in Wales against 13.3 per cent in England. Lynne Neagle said Jobs Growth Wales+ providers face cuts. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Where the parties stand
Welsh Labour
Lynne Neagle and Vikki Howells focus on FE funding, the breadth of the tertiary review, Seren and Jobs Growth Wales+. Neagle asked for a review of how FE is funded. Mike Hedges asked for support for university computing and life science departments. Contributions: [1][2][3][4][5]
Plaid Cymru
Ministers Cefin Campbell and Anna Brychan set out a skills audit, a skills summit and a higher education review. Campbell said Welsh-medium provision is a core aim and called under 1 per cent of FE provision in Welsh unacceptable. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Welsh Conservatives
Sam Rowlands said past reviews contributed to managed decline and asked how ministers will work with universities. He pressed on FE funding, immediate skills needs and apprenticeship options. Andrew RT Davies asked about student loan changes. Contributions: [1][2][3][4][5]
Reform UK
Members raised university deficits, student debt and fee certainty. Helen Jenner welcomed the skills focus but said the statement said more about process than change. Joshua Kim and Carmelo Colasanto raised college waiting lists and apprentice costs for employers. Contributions: [1][2][3][4][5]
What the government is being pressed on
1Will FE colleges get more money for rising enrolments? Cefin Campbell said Medr added £6.25 million this year, pressure is acute at some colleges, and a decision will follow around November. Lynne Neagle said that was not new money. Contributions: [1][2][3]
2What certainty can universities have on fees and finances? Adrian Mason asked about the fee cap. Campbell said the review covers student support and institutional funding, Medr updates him almost weekly, and back-up plans exist if the Welsh Government must step in. Contributions: [1][2][3]
3Why wait for an audit when employers face shortages now? Sam Rowlands raised electricians. Campbell said headline audit findings come at the October summit, a full report in March or April, and apprenticeship support continues meanwhile. Contributions: [1][2]
4Where does FE sit if the review covers only higher education? Lynne Neagle and Vikki Howells asked this. Campbell said he wants a connected system and stressed school and college collaboration. Contributions: [1][2][3]
5How will the NEET rise be tackled? Sam Rowlands and Lynne Neagle pressed on Jobs Growth Wales+ funding. Campbell said he will lead an inter-ministerial group covering health, transport and other policy areas. Contributions: [1][2][3]
What the public is asking for
Two open petitions ask for action on university safety and culture: one for a duty to prevent sexual violence at Welsh universities (1,615 signatures) and one against victimisation, bullying and harassment (282 signatures).
Who ministers are meeting
Ministers have met universities and their representative bodies, including Universities Wales and university chairs, and individual universities. They have also met colleges, adult learning organisations, trade unions such as UCU Cymru, and academics from other countries.
In the Sixth Senedd (2021 to 2026)
From the previous Senedd's record, for issues that run across both. The rest of this analysis covers the Seventh Senedd only.
The Sixth Senedd debated a new tertiary education body that brought higher education, further education, sixth forms and apprenticeships under one regulator. Members later argued over apprenticeship budget cuts in 2024 and the finances of universities. Debates in 2025 turned to job losses at Cardiff University.
Jeremy Miles (Welsh Labour) said the Bill gathered HE, FE, sixth forms, apprenticeships and research under one body. Sioned Williams (Plaid Cymru) pressed for stronger Welsh-medium duties. Laura Anne Jones (Welsh Conservatives) was concerned about apprenticeships' place in the Bill. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Vaughan Gething (Welsh Labour) said £390 million was invested in sixth forms and FE for the young person's guarantee, and in 2022 set an aim to reduce the NEET rate from 14 per cent to at least 10 per cent. Contributions: [1][2]
In 2024 Luke Fletcher (Plaid Cymru) and Paul Davies (Welsh Conservatives) opposed cuts to apprenticeship funding. Davies said that even after extra funding the sector faced a £12.25 million cut. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Cefin Campbell (Plaid Cymru) warned in October 2024 that universities could be lost without urgent action. In January 2025 Natasha Asghar (Welsh Conservatives) raised Cardiff University's planned cuts, and Vikki Howells (Welsh Labour) urged social partnership. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Written by AI on 30 October 2026 from 206 contributions in the Senedd between 12 May 2026 and 22 October 2026, with the petitions and ministers' meetings on this brief. Each point links to the contributions it draws on; check them before quoting. How the analysis is written.
Where things stand
Statistics published by the Welsh Government. Each chart covers the years since the 2016 Senedd election, or as far back as the figures go, and marks each election since.
Young people not in education, employment or training
13.7%
2024 (provisional)
A year earlier
13.2%(2023)
The estimated share of 16 to 24 year olds in Wales who were not in education, employment or training, by year.
The estimates combine survey and administrative data. The latest year is provisional and is revised the following year.
The Programme for Government 2026 to 2030 belongs to the Seventh Senedd. Choose the Seventh Senedd to see how often each commitment has come up.
The skills that Wales needs
Develop a Skills Strategy for Wales, informed by a national skills audit, to align skills provision, vocational education and qualifications with current and future economic needs. We will support a system that strengthens pathways into education, training and employment, helping people gain the skills, support and opportunities they need to enter, remain and progress in fair, secure and sustainable work.
Take steps to create a financially sustainable tertiary education system that delivers high‑quality education, skills and research, supports collaboration across the sector, and secures long‑term value from public investment, starting with our independent review of higher education funding.
Work to ensure that young people in Wales can live, study and work in Europe – including by maximising the opportunities for Welsh students that stem from the UK rejoining the Erasmus+ scheme and examining options for the future of the Wales‑specific Taith programme.
Develop a tertiary education system with clear and coherent learner pathways, supporting lifelong learning and enabling people of all ages to progress confidently between education, training and employment throughout their lives and to reach their full potential.
Reform Academi Seren, building on its strongest elements to support more learners, including from disadvantaged backgrounds, to fulfil their potential and progress into higher education, training or employment including here in Wales.
Strengthen opportunities for young people to fulfil their potential including increasing access to vocational pathways such as junior apprenticeships and ensuring the contribution of youth work is better valued and understood.
Source: Welsh Government, Programme for government 2026 to 2030: New ambition for Wales, first published on 10 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Mentions are found by matching the names of plans, bodies and schemes; a mention says nothing about progress.
From the Welsh Government
The Welsh Government's latest press releases and Cabinet statements on this brief.
• 253 additional nursing graduates are now in posts across NHS Wales following the graduate summit held by the Health and Care Minister in June. • Every nursing graduate at Aberystwyth and Bangor universities are now in…
Each bar is the share of that party's speeches and questions in the Sixth Senedd that touched this brief, so large and small parties can be compared. The upright line marks the chamber as a whole: 1.5%.
Ministers' meetings with outside organisations and their engagements on this brief, from the register the Welsh Government publishes every three months. 18 since the 2026 election; the latest:
25 September 2026
Prifysgol De Cymru / University of South Wales
Meeting, Trefnydd, Chief Whip and Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport
21 September 2026
Professor Joe Yates Wrexham University
Meeting, Deputy Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education
16 September 2026
Visit to Vet Education Centre at Aberystwyth University
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability
14 September 2026
Taith Meeting
Meeting, Deputy Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education
11 September 2026
Celtic Freeport Colleges Skills Partnership Launch Event - Swansea University
Meeting, Deputy Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education
10 September 2026
Louise Hayward, University of Glasgow
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
9 September 2026
Tim Oates, University of Cambridge
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
9 September 2026
Jim Spillane, Northwestern University
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Tagged for: “universities”Translated from WelshOfficial Record
Month by month
315
27
202120222023202420252026
Contributions tagged in each month of the Sixth Senedd. No sittings were held in August 2021, August 2022, August 2023, December 2024, February 2025, March 2025, April 2025, May 2025, June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025 and December 2025.Show the numbers
Month
Contributions
May 2021
2
June 2021
20
July 2021
16
August 2021
No sittings
September 2021
38
October 2021
25
November 2021
75
December 2021
107
January 2022
66
February 2022
39
March 2022
99
April 2022
17
May 2022
162
June 2022
77
July 2022
52
August 2022
No sittings
September 2022
30
October 2022
315
November 2022
90
December 2022
How this brief is put together
This brief follows the Programme commitments listed above and tags the record with the phrases below. Keyword matching can miss business that discusses the issue in other words, and can tag a passing mention.
Show the phrases it uses
A contribution is tagged when its English text contains one of these phrases. Capital letters don't matter, except in abbreviations, which must match exactly. It is also tagged when the title of the agenda item or question it was part of contains one, as long as the contribution is at least 30 words long. The brief is also tagged whenever one of its themes is.
The share of people aged 16 to 64 neither in work nor looking for work, over the twelve months to each date, in Wales and the UK.
From the Annual Population Survey, a sample survey: small changes from one period to the next may not be real. Each figure covers twelve months, so the figures for neighbouring dates share most of their months. They differ from the monthly headline labour market figures.
