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3 December 2010
Last updated at 09:03 ET
Education Minister Leighton Andrews has told universities and further education colleges in Wales there will be fewer of them by 2013.
Mr Andrews told the Institute of Welsh Affairs' conference higher education institutions must "adapt or die".
He said HE management had failed to respond adequately to the government's agenda.
Future funding would be dependent on a willingness to "progress swiftly to merger and reconfiguration", he said.
Mr Andrews told an audience in Cardiff the higher education sector's failure to respond to reconfigure and collaborate as the government intended was costing it money.
Quoting the King James Bible he reminded institutions: 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap'
Mr Andrews said the government supported the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales' (HEFCW's) corporate strategy.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
He said: "There will be fewer HEI's in Wales by 2013 and fewer vice-chancellors. That does not mean fewer students or fewer campuses.
"The HEI's that remain will have critical mass and will be able to drive forward our agenda.
"Access to the new fees regime will depend on the willingness of university managements to progress swiftly to merger and reconfiguration."
Mr Andrews said successive evidence pointed to the need for fewer institutions with "greater critical mass" building on their respective strengths rather than "wasting resources competing with neighbours".
He noted that only 36% of HE institutions in Wales have an income above the UK average which he said illustrated the failure of the sector to grasp the need for real change.
He also repeated the findings of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers review which showed HE in Wales spends 48% of its budgets delivering teaching and research but 52% on support services.
He said, "That isn't good enough."
The education minister said issues in higher education which needed to be tackled included a failure to address areas of Wales with a low participation in higher education, low skills and low aspiration.
'Top sliced'
Mr Andrews portrayed the assembly government's decision to meet the cost of increased tuition fees for students from Welsh homes as a rejection of an education "market" which had been established in England.
In Wales, basic tuition fees will rise from £3,290 per annum to £6,000, or £9,000 in some circumstances. They cost £3,290 at present.
But the assembly government will meet the cost of extra fees for students from Wales attending any UK university.
The minister said: "We do not wish to see the development of a market in higher education where institutions compete on price and students choose their courses or institutions on the basis of relative cost
HE institutions' budgets will be "top sliced" to pay for the non-means tested tuition fee waiver or grant.
But the education minister said HEIs in Wales would still enjoy a higher level of teaching grant than in England, where he said teaching budgets were set to fall by 80% over the next four years.
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Mr Andrews told the Institute of Welsh Affairs' conference higher education institutions must "adapt or die".
He said HE management had failed to respond adequately to the government's agenda.
Future funding would be dependent on a willingness to "progress swiftly to merger and reconfiguration", he said.
Mr Andrews told an audience in Cardiff the higher education sector's failure to respond to reconfigure and collaborate as the government intended was costing it money.
Quoting the King James Bible he reminded institutions: 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap'
Mr Andrews said the government supported the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales' (HEFCW's) corporate strategy.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
There will be fewer HEI's in Wales by 2013 and fewer vice-chancellors.”
End Quote
Leighton Andrews
Education Minister
He said: "There will be fewer HEI's in Wales by 2013 and fewer vice-chancellors. That does not mean fewer students or fewer campuses.
"The HEI's that remain will have critical mass and will be able to drive forward our agenda.
"Access to the new fees regime will depend on the willingness of university managements to progress swiftly to merger and reconfiguration."
Mr Andrews said successive evidence pointed to the need for fewer institutions with "greater critical mass" building on their respective strengths rather than "wasting resources competing with neighbours".
He noted that only 36% of HE institutions in Wales have an income above the UK average which he said illustrated the failure of the sector to grasp the need for real change.
He also repeated the findings of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers review which showed HE in Wales spends 48% of its budgets delivering teaching and research but 52% on support services.
He said, "That isn't good enough."
The education minister said issues in higher education which needed to be tackled included a failure to address areas of Wales with a low participation in higher education, low skills and low aspiration.
'Top sliced'
Mr Andrews portrayed the assembly government's decision to meet the cost of increased tuition fees for students from Welsh homes as a rejection of an education "market" which had been established in England.
In Wales, basic tuition fees will rise from £3,290 per annum to £6,000, or £9,000 in some circumstances. They cost £3,290 at present.
But the assembly government will meet the cost of extra fees for students from Wales attending any UK university.
The minister said: "We do not wish to see the development of a market in higher education where institutions compete on price and students choose their courses or institutions on the basis of relative cost
HE institutions' budgets will be "top sliced" to pay for the non-means tested tuition fee waiver or grant.
But the education minister said HEIs in Wales would still enjoy a higher level of teaching grant than in England, where he said teaching budgets were set to fall by 80% over the next four years.
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