Demand for flexible higher education in Wales is running so far ahead of available funding that the future development of the country’s workforce and access to study are at risk, the Open University has warned. The institution, which now educates more than half of all part-time university students in Wales, says the financial model has failed to keep pace with a dramatic increase in learners, leaving provision under growing pressure.
Funding gap widens as student numbers surge
On a per-student basis, funding for flexible higher education has fallen by approximately 19 percent in real terms compared with a decade ago. According to the Open University, the amount allocated per learner stood at £1,135 in 2015-16. Adjusted for inflation, that figure would be around £1,519 today, but the actual funding for 2024-25 is £1,231 per student — a real-terms reduction of about £288, or 18.98 percent.
The shortfall is reflected in overall spending. Across all providers in Wales, total funding for part-time higher education was £28.6 million in 2015-16. By 2024-25 that had risen to £34.8 million. However, the Open University calculates that if funding had kept pace with inflation, the equivalent sum would have been approximately £38.3 million in 2024-25 terms — leaving a gap of £3.5 million.
Looking further back, the pattern is starker still. Between 2014-15 and 2024-25, learning and teaching funding for part-time higher education in Wales increased by only £3 million in absolute terms but fell by more than £6 million in real terms. In 2014-15, total funding for part-time provision — including strategic funding for the Open University in Wales — stood at £30.375 million. Had that sum risen in line with inflation it would be worth £40.784 million in 2024-25, compared with the actual figure of £34.647 million.
While the Open University does not have the same campus-related costs as traditional universities, it stresses that flexible and distance learning still requires significant investment in teaching, student support, specialist course development and support services. This is particularly acute given the profile of its student body, which includes a high proportion of part-time, working, disabled and widening-participation learners.
In the current 2025-26 financial year, Medr — the Welsh Government’s post-16 education body — has allocated the Open University £22.9 million for its Welsh activities. Medr’s funding allocations for 2025-26 include specific provisions for “Open University in Wales strategic funding”.
Student numbers double in a decade
The funding pressures come at a time when demand has soared. Student numbers at the Open University in Wales have more than doubled over the past decade, rising from 7,000 to over 16,000. The growth accelerated sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 32 percent increase in 2020-21, and has continued to climb steadily since. The university now accounts for more than half of all part-time higher education students in Wales.
Across Wales as a whole, the number of part-time students increased by around 12 percent over the same period, meaning the system is supporting more learners with comparatively fewer resources in real terms.
Nationally, the Open University had 199,391 students in 2022-23, of whom 14,998 were in Wales. The majority of its undergraduates are aged between 25 and 34, with a median age of 29 for new starters. A significant proportion — 76 percent — had no previous higher education qualifications on entry, and 26 percent live in the 25 percent most deprived areas of the UK.
Consequences for workforce and access
Ben Lewis, principal and nation director of the Open University in Wales, warned that the current funding model is not keeping pace with reality. “Flexible learning has moved firmly into the mainstream, becoming central to how many people access education and develop their skills throughout their lives,” he said. “We are seeing sustained growth in demand from people who are balancing study with work and family commitments, but the current funding model is not keeping pace with that reality.”
He added: “Without early action from the new Welsh Government, there is a real risk to the long-term sustainability of flexible higher education. This matters not just for universities, but for Wales’ future workforce, its economic growth, and the delivery of the government’s priorities.”
The Open University highlights that flexible higher education plays a critical role in widening participation, enabling people to retrain, upskill and change careers. It addresses workforce shortages in key sectors such as teaching, nursing and social care, and opens access to higher education for those who might otherwise not have the opportunity. Flexible learning also helps retain skills within local communities, allowing people to study and progress without leaving their area.
The social care sector offers a striking example. Since 2021-22, 248 social workers have qualified through the Open University in Wales, with annual graduate numbers rising by more than 220 percent — from 30 in 2021-22 to 97 in 2024-25. This growth comes against a backdrop of a worsening shortage of qualified social workers in Wales, where an estimated 350 new entrants are needed each year compared with the current output of around 200 graduates. Wales has the lowest ratio of social workers per 10,000 people in the UK.
Plaid Cymru proposals and the university’s calls for action
The new Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government is being urged to intervene. The Open University is calling for improved funding for flexible provision, protected maintenance support for part-time students, and an increase in the amount part-time students can borrow to cover tuition fees.
For part-time undergraduates in Wales, tuition fee support shifted entirely to loans from 2018-19. The maximum part-time Tuition Fee Loan available in 2024-25 is £2,875 for study in Wales or with the Open University. Maintenance support, combining grants and loans, can reach up to £6,724 for the same academic year.
Plaid Cymru’s election manifesto and policy statements have set out a number of relevant proposals. These include a commitment to commission a comprehensive review of university funding in Wales to ensure more investment stays within the country; a “lifetime learning allowance” offering a £5,000 grant to individuals over 25 for training or reskilling; measures to address the decline in part-time and mature student numbers; a pledge to pay apprentices at least the living wage; support for colleges with student travel and meals; and a broader push to make higher education more flexible to accommodate people’s lives.
The broader funding context includes additional support announced by the Welsh Government in December 2024: an extra £20 million for Medr to support further and higher education, with £10 million allocated for teaching, learning, research, widening access and change management in universities, and £10 million for further education colleges. Meanwhile, the cap on maximum undergraduate tuition fees in Wales has been increased to £9,535 from £9,250, aligning with England.
Analysis of previous funding cuts to part-time learners in further education between 2011-12 and 2016-17 showed a 71 percent reduction in real terms, with disproportionate effects on middle-aged learners, women and ethnic minority students.
Looking ahead, the UK government’s Lifelong Learning Entitlement, which will fund individual modules from January 2027, is seen by the Open University as a significant milestone for flexible learners.
‘It completely changed my future’
Rachel Townsend, 43, from Ystalyfera, is among those whose lives have been transformed by flexible study. She balanced full-time work and raising two children as a single parent while studying for a BA (Hons) in Social Work through a local authority “Grow Our Own” scheme with the Open University, funded by Powys County Council.
Previously working in social care support roles, she had reached a ceiling in her career progression without a qualification. Unable to give up work or attend in-person sessions, traditional university was not an option. Flexible learning provided a route into higher education that could fit around family responsibilities and full-time employment.
Since graduating, she has progressed into senior leadership roles within social care, including managing a hospital social work team, and has now launched her own care home business supporting people with disabilities and complex needs. Alongside her work, she also mentors and supervises Open University social work students, helping support the next generation entering the profession.
“Without the flexibility of the Open University, I simply would not have been able to study,” she said. “I was working full time, raising two children on my own and needed to keep earning while improving my qualifications. Traditional university was never a realistic option for me. The flexibility meant that I could fit study around my life – often doing coursework in the evenings after the children had gone to bed. It completely changed my future.”
