Universities in Wales

There are currently ten universities operating in Wales, all of which receive funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW). Although university status in Wales only requires taught degree awarding powers (since 2004), most Welsh universities have the power to award both taught and research degrees (research degrees at Wrexham Glyndŵr University are validated by the University of Chester). University status in Wales is conferred by the Privy Council following advice from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The criteria for university status were set by the UK government in 2004; since then higher education in Wales has become a devolved matter under the Government of Wales Act 2006 and is the responsibility of the Minister for Education & Skills in the Welsh Government.

In 2016–2017 global rankings, four Welsh universities (Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea) featured in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (covering a total of 981 institutions, 91 from the UK); the same four also featured in the QS World University Rankings (916 institutions, 71 from the UK); while Bangor and Cardiff are in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (500 institutions, 37 from the UK). No Welsh university features in the top 100 of any of the global tables, although Cardiff makes the top 200 in all three.