The main parties have dropped their promises to scrap student tuition fees

Martin Shipton

For one Senedd lead candidate, it was “something of a shock” to realise they represented the only party on the ballot paper in their constituency still committed to free education after recent policy shifts by the major parties.

University tuition fees – introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour, then tripled under the Conservative-Liberal coalition – have always been contentious.

And at election time, Welsh students have traditionally had an opportunity to give their verdict.

But as parties move out of opposition and potentially take a leading role in the next Welsh Government, it appears that the demand for free education has been a casualty.

In 2021, Plaid Cymru promised an immediate £1,500 reduction in fees for Welsh-domiciled students at Welsh Universities with a “long-term goal of free university tuition.”

Talking to the BBC this March, Plaid’s Carrie Harper confirmed that this remained a long-term ambition. But that ambition, and the pledge to immediately reduce fees, has since dropped from their 2026 Senedd manifesto, replaced by a promise of a review.

At the 2024 general election, the Green Party supported “the restoration of grants and the end of tuition fees.” However, in the 2026 Senedd elections, the Greens are instead now calling only for a pathway to “sustainably lower” tuition fees. And in 2023, the Labour Party’s Keir Starmer dropped Jeremy Corbyn’s free education pledges.

Swansea University straddles the two constituencies of Gŵyr Abertawe and Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd.

Gŵyr Abertawe

Ben Golightly, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) lead candidate for Gŵyr Abertawe, is a software engineer currently studying for a Maths masters.

“Many of the other candidates will have already benefited from free education and living grants” he said.

“It’s wrong for them to pull the ladder up after themselves. We could afford education for them in the past – we can afford a future for young people now. That’s what Socialist candidates are standing for — apparently now, alone.

“We have a strong record on this, such as leading the successful student rent strikes during Covid in Swansea and Bangor, winning millions back for students.”

Asked how much the policy would cost, how would it be funded and whether it would apply to all students domiciled in Wales, or only those studying in Wales, Ben Golightly said: “In 2024, the University and College Union (UCU) commissioned London Economics to review the costs of removing undergraduate tuition fees, with Universities instead funded directly through a corresponding increase in public Teaching Grants.

“In Wales, this was estimated to cost £0.57bn. This scenario applies if free education is offered to all students, Welsh-domiciled or not, studying at a Welsh University, and that is the model we have in mind.

“We have not fully costed doing the same for postgraduate tuition, but the figure is smaller.

“Non-means tested, living grants, for all Welsh-domiciled students, to replace the existing system, would cost an additional £1 billion, approximately.

“TUSC Cymru would implement these policies immediately, and launch a campaign for the additional funding needed from Westminster, demanding big business foots the bill.

“UK corporation tax rates are currently the lowest in the G7. I agree with UCU that ‘the three main beneficiaries of the UK higher education system are the student, the state and business. We have seen fees and loans squeeze more money out of the individual while the state covers non-repayments of the loans, but we have seen little contribution from business to the cost of higher education.’

“The commissioned research suggests a 3 percentage point increase in Corporation Tax – a tax on profits – would fund free education for the whole of the UK.

“Ultimately, there is a major funding crisis in higher education. Swansea University is, as nation.cymru has reported, looking to cut 200 jobs, 50 of them teaching, on the back of 400 voluntary redundancies.

“Tuition fees cannot rise forever: wages have been stagnant for 15 years, so any increase will end up written off anyway. The marketisation of education has been a failure, and the harder question for other parties is – if they won’t fund higher education directly, then what do they propose? I don’t think they have any answers.

“Higher education adds £70bn to the UK economy, £3bn in Wales – we can’t afford to let it collapse.

“By taking the top banks and monopolies into democratic public ownership, we can plan the economy for social needs like education rather than private profit. That’s why we also campaign for the Welsh Government to be given the powers to take over failing firms.”

Each party’s 2026 manifesto pledges on free education:

Plaid Cymru: No commitment. Commission an independent review of higher education and how it is funded in Wales.

Welsh Labour: No commitment. Launch a call for evidence on tertiary education sustainability.

Welsh Greens: Commission an independent review including a pathway to “sustainably lower” tuition fees.

Welsh Conservatives: “Pilot a £1,000 tuition fee discount for those studying STEM subjects” and “refund University tuition fees for nursing, medicine, teaching and dentistry students who study in Wales and go on to work for at least five years in the Welsh NHS or Welsh schools.”

Welsh Lib Dems: No commitment, except to “continue to deliver the most generous system of student finance anywhere in the UK for Welsh students.”

Reform UK: “Fee levels should remain aligned for the foreseeable future.”

Welsh Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition: “university tuition fees should be scrapped” and grants paid at a level “to allow students to study without having to work.”