Medr sets out proposed conditions of registration and funding in consultation on regulating tertiary education and training providers

On 22 October 2025 Medr launched its second consultation on a new system for regulating tertiary education and training providers. This follows on from its first consultation (which ran from 15 May - 18 July 2025), and importantly sets out for the first time the full set of draft Conditions of Registration and Funding.

The consultation, which runs until 17 December 2025, seeks views on Medr’s proposals on the:

• Statement of Intervention Powers - which explains its statutory powers of intervention;

• Regulatory Framework – which sets out the approach to regulation and monitoring, the draft Conditions of Registration and Conditions of Funding and the process for how, and what type of, incidents and events must be reported to Medr;

• Quality Framework -which underpins the condition requirements and monitoring arrangements in respect of quality;

• Learner Engagement Code -which supports providers and Medr to focus the tertiary education sector around the needs of the learner and ensure all learners have opportunities to engage in their provider’s decision-making;

• Frequently Asked Questions document; and

• Glossary of terms.

In this briefing we will focus on the proposed Conditions of Registration contained within the Regulatory Framework. These will apply to universities and further education providers that run higher education courses in Wales. In addition, we explain which of these will also be Conditions of Funding - applying to those tertiary providers who cannot register, but to whom Medr gives public money.

In our second briefing we will cover the approach Medr intends to take towards regulation, monitoring and reportable events.

Conditions of Registration

There will be two categories of registration for providers of higher education – namely universities and further education providers that run higher education courses in Wales:

• Higher Education Providers (Core) - Providers registered in this category will be eligible for automatic designation for Welsh Government student fee and maintenance support for higher education courses at the higher fee level, provided under the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998. Providers in this category will also be eligible for Medr higher education grant funding.

• Higher Education Providers (Alternative) – Providers registered in this category will be eligible for automatic designation for Welsh Government student fee and maintenance support for higher education courses at the lower fee level, provided under the 1998 Act but will not be eligible for the higher education grant funding.

Registration in either category will be conditional on compliance with the Initial Conditions of Registration and, once registered, providers will need to comply with the Ongoing Conditions of Registration.

There are 16 proposed conditions of registration contained in the consultation document – 7 of which are initial and ongoing and 9 which are ongoing – so not necessary to be registered but will apply from registration onwards. Annex B to the consultation goes into each of these in some detail – setting out the legal basis for them, the compliance requirements, and the ongoing (and where applicable) initial monitoring that will take place. Respondents are asked various questions on each of the proposed conditions, including whether they have any further comments, whether the conditions can be applied consistently across all tertiary providers, whether the requirements are proportionate and whether there is sufficient clarity in respect of them.

The intention is for the register to be launched in August 2026 and all of the conditions to apply from that date, apart from the ongoing conditions of equality of opportunity and fee limits which will come into effect from August 2027. The application process (which will be by way of an online portal) will open in the next year with further information to be provided in due course.

Those that are both initial and ongoing requirements are:

Financial sustainability – providers must have strategies in place to ensure they are financially sustainable – this includes having credible plans to ensure that the provider will remain financially viable in the short term of one to two years, with no reason to suppose it is at material risk of insolvency within this period, and to remain financially sustainable over the medium term of three to five years.

Governance and management - providers must have effective governance and management arrangements, including financial management – this includes compliance by the governing body with good governance, having an effective senior executive team, effective engagement with stakeholders (including staff and students), establishing appropriate systems and controls in relation to financial management, managing its estate in a sustainable way, complying with Medr’s Accounts Direction and having appropriate policies and procedures in relation to internal controls and risk management.

Quality – providers must demonstrate that their provision is of good quality, and that they engage with continuous improvement. Compliance with this requires achieving satisfactory external quality assessment outcomes, having acceptable performance data and not being considered by Medr to demonstrate a risk to the quality of education.

Staff and learner welfare – this includes:

• taking into account policies, procedures and services that promote and support staff and learner wellbeing and safety. “Wellbeing” in this context meaning emotional well-being and mental health, and “safety” meaning freedom from harms including harassment, misconduct (as it relates to staff and learner welfare), violence (including sexual violence) and hate crime;

• conducting an annual staff and learner welfare self-evaluation;

• submitting to Medr an annual welfare action plan approved by the governing body; and

• submitting an annual assurance and compliance return.

Validation arrangements - providers must ensure, where there are validation arrangements in place, that those arrangements are effective in enabling the provider to satisfy itself as to the quality of the education leading to the award of a qualification under the arrangements and to meet the expectations set out in relation to oversight and responsibility, formal agreements, learner experience and protection, monitoring and review and notification requirements.

Information provided to prospective students - providers must ensure that information provided to prospective students about a provider, its courses, and its terms and conditions of contracts with students is clear and accurate. This involves:

• adhering to relevant legislation;

• providing clear information, which ensures all marketing materials, course information, and contractual terms are accurate, clear, and not misleading;

• ensuring student contracts and terms and conditions are fair and compliant with consumer protection law;

• ensuring accessibility of information; and

• providing timely updates.

Charitable status (this applies to the core category of registration only) – the governing body must ensure that the provider is a charity and maintains that charitable status.

The conditions which are ongoing requirements are:

Welsh language - providers must take all reasonable steps to:

• promote and encourage greater use of the Welsh language across the provider (so that people – including staff and learners – can use the language naturally in their daily lives);

• increase demand for, and participation in, tertiary education delivered through the medium of Welsh and Welsh as a subject; and

• where appropriate, take all reasonable steps to promote and encourage the carrying out of research and innovation activities which support the Welsh language.

Compliance involves publishing and maintaining a Welsh Language Strategy setting out how they will achieve the above.

Learner protection plan - when given notice to do so, the governing body must have in place a learner protection plan approved by Medr, on or before a date specified by Medr, and must implement that plan. The consultation sets out guidance on the expected process for the submission, approval, and revision of learner protection plans, Medr’s detailed requirements for the contents of learner protection plans and worked examples of possible scenarios.

Learner engagement code – the governing body must comply with the requirements of the learner engagement code (or any subsequent revisions) and provide evidence to demonstrate compliance with the code and its impact.

Equality of opportunity - providers must deliver measurable outcomes to further the following aims:

• to increase participation in tertiary education by people from under-represented groups;

• the retention of learners who are members of under-represented group to the end of courses;

• the reduction of any gaps in attainment between different groups of learners, where the differences arise from social, cultural, economic or organisational factors;

• the provision of support for learners from under-represented groups finishing their courses, to continue in education, find employment or start a business; and

• where appropriate, to increase participation in the carrying out of research and innovation in Wales by persons who are members of under-represented groups.

Complaints procedures – providers must have in place a procedure for investigating complaints made by learners and former learners about an act or omission of the provider and take reasonable steps to make the procedure known to learners.

Regard to advice and guidance - providers must ensure that their governing body has regard to advice or guidance given by Medr in exercise of Medr’s functions. This applies to advice or guidance issued by Medr to the provider specifically or more broadly to the sector, and the provider needs to demonstrate how such guidance has been evaluated, and (where deemed appropriate) incorporated into the operations of the provider and, where not adopted or implemented, retain an appropriate justification for not doing so.

Information, assistance and access – the provider must provide Medr, or a person authorised by it, with such information, assistance and access to the provider’s facilities, systems and equipment as Medr may reasonably require to undertake its functions – this includes providing the information requested in a format prescribed by Medr, and through an assurance process that provides it with appropriate confidence in the accuracy of the information.

Fee limits (this applies to the core category of registration only) – providers must have a fee limit statement approved by Medr and ensure that regulated course fees do not exceed the applicable fee limit. The fee limit statement must set out the maximum fees chargeable for each qualifying course, either specifying a fee limit, or providing for the determination of a fee limit. Those registered in the Higher Education (Alternative) category will have their relevant full-time undergraduate level higher education courses automatically designated for tuition fee support at the lower rate.

Notification of changes which affect the accuracy of information – the governing body must notify Medr of any change, of which it becomes aware, which affects the accuracy of the information contained in the provider’s entry in the Register and also notify Medr of any change, of which it becomes aware, which affects the provider’s status as a tertiary education provider in Wales.

Conditions of Funding

These will apply to those tertiary providers who cannot register but to whom Medr gives public money – so in other words providers of higher education courses specified by Welsh Ministers in regulations, further education, apprenticeships and adult community learning (via local authorities).

Most but not all of these conditions are the same as for registration. With 4 of the above initial and ongoing conditions applying both to registration and funding – namely financial sustainability, governance and management, quality and staff and learner welfare. The following 7 ongoing conditions also apply to funding as well as registration - Welsh language, learner protection plan, learner engagement code, equality of opportunity, complaints procedures, regard to advice and guidance and information, assistance and access.