Swansea University plans £9,000 tuition fees

Swansea University says it plans to charge the maximum £9,000 a year for tuition fees for all its courses.

Last month all 10 Welsh universities had their fee plans rejected and were told to submit fresh proposals.

Five had said they wanted to charge £9,000 while five others, including Swansea, had not disclosed its plans.

Swansea now says it made its decision in light of a reduction in government funding for higher education and to protect improvements to teaching.

It said it would also able it to offer financial help to students from lower income families, expand its outreach programme and allow further investment in an access scheme.

Equal access

The university, which has plans for a new science and innovation campus over a 69-acre site at Baglan, near Port Talbot, said details of its fees and support would be available to prospective students attending an open day on Saturday.

Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Bangor, Glamorgan and Newport universities have all said they want to charge the maximum £9,000. Some courses at Newport would cost £8,250.

If Welsh universities want to charge more than £4,000 in 2012/13 their fee plans must be approved by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (Hefcw).

It told all 10 Welsh universities to submit fresh proposals after turning down their initial plans last month.

Plans will only be agreed if institutions show they meet certain requirements, including on equal access and improving the student experience.

Hefcw will make a final decision on 11 July.

Students from Wales will be shielded from increased tuition fees, wherever they study in the UK. Their fees, currently around £3,400, will only rise in line with inflation with the Welsh Government making up the shortfall.