Undergraduate Tuition Fees - 11 July 2012

Today (Monday 11 July 2011), Cardiff University has welcomed the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales' decision to accept its proposed fee level of £9,000 per annum for full-time Home and EU undergraduates joining the University from 2012-13.

Vice-Chancellor, Dr David Grant said: "Cardiff University is Wales' largest and premier research-led University and offers high-quality and inspiring education to students from a wide variety of backgrounds. This agreed fee, together with the University's supporting investment in a series of scholarships, bursaries and ongoing financial and academic support, will ensure that a Cardiff University education remains as accessible to future students who have the potential to succeed as it is today.

"It will also mean that at a time of significantly reduced government funding in higher education, Cardiff University will maintain and develop provision across our wide portfolio of courses - including the very large number of high cost programmes we deliver in science, engineering and professional disciplines.

"Throughout this iterative process we have worked very closely with the Students' Union to develop robust financial, academic and skills support packages for our students. We are committed to providing support for students throughout their time at Cardiff University and to ensuring students are equipped for life after University - not only with a highly sought after qualification but with the skills and attitudes that society and future employers need.

"We will match students' investment in us with our investment in stimulating, supportive and affordable higher education. We look forward to continuing to welcome a diverse and lively student population to study at Cardiff University."

Additional information:

Fees for Wales/EU students, and rest of UK

No student will have to pay fees upfront.

The fees for Welsh domiciled students will be met from two sources. As now, Welsh domiciled students will be liable for the first £3,375 * of their fees – this cost will be met via a loan from the Student Loan Company. Students will only start repaying this loan once they are earning more than £21,000. The balance of the fee over and above the £3,375 will be met by the Welsh Government via a tuition fee grant. The tuition fee grant will be paid for all eligible Welsh-domiciled students (and for those from the EU studying in Wales). ** It applies not only to those students studying in Wales but to all Welsh-domiciled students wherever such students are studying in the UK. The tuition fee grant will not be repayable and will not be means tested.

Support for students from other parts of the UK will be governed by the fee arrangements decided by their own governments. It is anticipated that such students will need to meet the cost of their tuition fees in full via a loan from the Student Loan Company.

* £3,375 is the current undergraduate tuition fee (2011/12) – this figure is expected to be adjusted in line with inflation.

** Subject to Student Support Regulations

Widening Access and Retention

This year, Cardiff University's student population includes nearly 1,500 students from the most deprived areas of Wales (Communities First areas) – the second highest total of any university in Wales.

Each year, up to 1,400 Year 11 Pupils are inspired by our seminars in schools to join the University'sStep Up to University programme. In 2010, 150 graduates of the scheme gained a place at university with 59 securing a place at Cardiff.

Over the next three years, we will expand our Step up to University programme by 100%, with 3,000 pupils on the programme at any one time, and we will prioritise our activity in Communities First areas of SE Wales.

Cardiff University is proud of its track record in supporting students to successfully complete their courses. Ninety-four percent of our undergraduates achieve their intended educational aims.

We will further invest in providing tailored support by establishing a Skills Centre to coordinate academic support services as part of the student experience, enabling them to fulfil their potential.

Employability

Over the last three years, on average more than 94% per cent of our graduates entered employment or further study within six months of graduation.

We will build on this and further embed employability and enterprise skills within the Cardiff experience. We will achieve this through partnership working between employers, careers specialists, Student Enterprise and the Students' Union, so that students are able to contribute positively in a work situation, add value to their employer at the earliest opportunity in their career and realise their potential through their professional and career ambitions.

Campus investments

Over the last two years, Cardiff University has enhanced the student experience and transformed the academic environment including:

• the £4M extension to the School of Biosciences' South podium providing new student facilities offering undergraduates easy access to all facilities, and freeing up space further inside the building for teaching and learning;
• the £16M, 6,000 m² Cochrane Building offering facilities for all five healthcare schools based on the Heath Park Campus, including a twin storey, inter-professional library, modern clinical skills and high-tech simulation laboratories, seminar space, wireless access to on-line services and student support services;
• the £21M state-of-the art building housing the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences;
• the £30M Hadyn Ellis Building on the new Maindy Park site, offering well-equipped new space for some of the University's most advanced research, and a home to the new Graduate College.

More about Cardiff University

Cardiff University welcomes approximately 4,500 undergraduate entrants each year and more than 34,000 applications. It is one of the largest universities in the UK (with 28,000 students), and is recognised in independent government assessments as one of Britain's leading teaching and research universities. It is a member of the Russell Group of the UK's most research intensive universities.

Cardiff has strength of undergraduate provision across a broad subject mix covering all of the major academic disciplines. These include the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), clinical subjects, the humanities (including modern foreign languages) and social sciences (including planning and architecture). Over half (52%) of Cardiff's undergraduate provision is in the higher cost STEM and clinical areas.

Cardiff University provides substantial number of engineering, health and business professionals of the future – 85% of our academic schools have links with over 90 professional and accrediting bodies.

Cardiff University is Wales' sole provider of degree level Architecture, Planning, Optometry, Pharmacy, and Dentistry courses. The School of Medicine is one of the largest in the UK with more than 3,000 students.