Governance News Alert: Medr Strategic Plan 2025 - 2030

Medr was launched by the Welsh Government in August 2024, bringing together the funding and regulation of Wales’s tertiary education and research sector for the first time. Its strategic plan, which was consulted on over September and October 2024, sets out ambitions for learning and research, meeting the needs of the economy and society, improving participation in tertiary education, and creating flexible pathways for learners. 

The full strategic plan document can be found at: https://www.medr.cymru/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Medr-Strategic-Plan-2025-2030.pdf 

At-a-glance: 

• A proportionate, risk-based regulatory system will be developed by August 2026. It will be underpinned by a higher education register and terms and conditions of funding for all parts of the sector (p11) 
• Baseline data will be established to provide a strong evidence base for Medr’s planning and decision making and for informing government policy. Priorities for improvement will be identified and linked to “national milestones” (p11) 
• Regulatory conditions will include a learner engagement code, a common framework for health, mental health and well-being, and the provision of effective complaints procedures ensuring that learners are aware of them (p13) 
• As part of the regulatory system, a coherent quality framework will be implemented that will define what excellent learner outcomes and high-quality provision means in each part of the sector. The regulator will consult on performance indicators to promote continuous improvement and set “ambitious targets for learner outcomes and experiences” (p17) 
• Learner outcomes will be analysed, and “proportionate interventions” will be made where evidence shows a lack of positive impact and where performance is below agreed thresholds (p17) 
• Funding and registration models will be reviewed to establish their impact on the achievement of performance indicators (p17) 
• A learner voice forum will be created to ensure that the learner voice is a central consideration in Medr’s policy and decision making (p13) 
• Participation rates in tertiary education are too low and the number of people not in education, employment or training is too high. Collaboration will be encouraged to foster coherent, easy-to-navigate learning pathways and improved flexibility to facilitate greater access to opportunities (p12) 
• Future apprenticeship provision will be designed by Medr to respond to the Welsh Government’s skills priorities, informed by strong links with employers and industry, and in consultation with Qualifications Wales (p14) 
• A national plan for the Welsh language across the tertiary education sector will be developed and implemented. This will increase and improve the provision and promotion of Welsh medium education and assessment (p20) 

 Implications for governance: 

The strategic plan is the first step towards Medr’s vision for the tertiary education and research sector. It sets out broad ambitions and commitments to improving access, experiences and outcomes for Welsh students.  

The next step is an operational plan which will lay out how the regulator plans to achieve its strategic aims and deliver on its goals. Published later in the year, this will articulate specific actions, timeframes and performance indicators predicated on data, as well as informing the allocation of resources.  

A significant part of Medr’s work will be the development of a new register of higher education providers and conditions of funding. Medr says it will engage and consult widely on these conditions. Therefore institutions, and their governors, will have the opportunity to contribute to the debate. 

The strategic plan indicates that regulatory conditions will include a quality framework – based on performance indicators – as well as a learner engagement code, a common framework for health, mental health and well-being and reference to effective complaints procedures. 

These are already key areas of responsibility for governing bodies, and governors may consider it timely to review policies, procedures and data around quality assurance and complaints, for instance, to have a good understanding of their institutional approach before new regulations come into play. 

Whether the new quality framework and performance indicators will focus on student outcomes, as the Office for Students does in its B3 conditions, is yet to be seen but interest in quality – particularly in tertiary quality – has also been seen in other UK nations where the Scottish Funding Council has developed a Tertiary Quality Framework. There is also a question as to what form “proportionate interventions” will take, which Medr says it will make where performance is below agreed thresholds. In Scotland, through its approach to assurance and accountability, the Scottish Funding Council sets policy direction for the sector and, through monitoring and engagement, works with individual institutions to secure progress. 

Collaboration across the sector is presented as a necessary part of bringing about positive change, it is a key theme running throughout Medr’s 22 page strategic plan. In everything from creating coherent pathways for learners, improving research and productivity to fulfilling the needs of employers and industry, collaboration is seen as vital. Again, there are strong parallels with Scotland’s approach here – where collaboration, the development of learner pathways and system alignment against national economic strategy are all identified as important. 

Governing bodies  may want to consider whether their institution’s own partnerships and links with other providers, stakeholders and business are as extensive and productive as possible. Institutions need to ensure they are in a position to take advantage of opportunities that may arise from developments in innovation, apprenticeships and Welsh language provision, for instance. 

A number of institutions in Wales have recently announced job losses and course closures. In the foreword to the strategic plan, Simon Pirotte, the chief executive of Medr, and its chair, Professor Dame Julie Lydon, acknowledge that the sector is grappling with challenges and that they “understand the fiscal context”. 

The strategic plan articulates that funding and registration models will be reviewed to ascertain their impact on the achievement of performance indicators. In the meantime, the forthcoming operational plan will “inform the allocation of resources”, so is likely to be of substantial interest to governing bodies.