Connect with us
Advertisement
Advertisement

Education

Student finance ‘discriminates against women and mature students’

Published

on

Very friendly and supportive: Neil Hamilton

A WEST Wales mature student has alleged that Student Finance Wales discriminates against mature female students who have changed their name through marriage or divorce.

Tricia (not her real name) contacted The Herald after she experienced protracted delays in receiving student finance to which she was entitled having been made ‘to jump through hoops’ to prove she was who she said she was.

She encountered difficulties after applying for a one year top up from a HND to a BA.

The situation was rendered all the more frustrating as, Student Finance Wales had all of Tricia’s proof of identity from the previous year, when she completed her HND, access to all of the information submitted in connection with that award, and repeatedly told her that there was no information required from her before telling her on a number of occasions, and only when she rang to query the continuing delay, that further information was needed.

Tricia applied for student finance on June 14 and supporting information for her financial status was provided immediately to Student Finance Wales. Tricia had the same customer reference number, same email, same telephone contact number that she had used for her previous application.

Tricia was particularly exasperated as she had been through precisely the same rigmarole in proving her identity in her initial application two years before.

She told us: “Despite the fact that I applied early for student finance, after that earlier bad experience, I kept on being pushed from pillar to post. Even though ALL of my information was already held by Student Finance and they were writing to me at my home address, which I had already provided and proved, it was not until mid-August that Student Finance Wales asked for proof that I actually lived in Wales.

“Having sent that proof, I rang up to check everything was okay and was told that Student Finance Wales had all the information they needed to process my application.”

She continued: “Having waited for a few weeks and with the start of term already near, I rang to find out what was happening. I was then told that before my application could proceed that they wanted information for an application for a childcare grant, which I have never sought and had not asked for. I had to write a letter telling them this – unbelievably six weeks after acknowledging they had received that letter, the information is still shown as required.
“Anyway, I confirmed again that they now had all the material they needed. And was told they did. A few weeks passed and I had heard nothing. I rang again. This time they wanted me to provide both my birth certificate and a form signed by a third party confirming that I was me!

“I raised an immediate complaint and was told I would be sent a copy of that for my own information.”

On October 26, Tricia rang to confirm that all information had been received and make sure that nothing else was needed.

Tricia’s experience then entered the realms of the surreal. A friend verified her identity. The same person had verified her partner’s identity for their application for student finance and been accepted.

The proof of identity was rejected and during the phone call a claim was made that a letter to that effect had been sent out on October 20, which was remarkable in itself as the identity form had only been posted on October 19. Not only was there no sign of that letter’s arrival, there was no sign of it in the record of correspondence.

Tricia then raised the question of her previous complaint, only to be told there was no record of it. She was then told by a manager at Student Finance Wales that she was not entitled to see the content of any complaint raised by the company on her behalf, although that manager told her that she would now raise a complaint for her and notify her it had been raised.

After waiting a few days, and with no sign of a complaint being made, Tricia emailed a full complaint to Student Finance Wales and copied her constituency and regional AMs in along with Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams and the Assembly parties’ education spokespersons.
Response was swift. First to respond was Labour’s Joyce Watson who promised to raise the matter with the Cabinet Secretary. That was followed by responses from Paul Davies – who helped resolve Tricia’s previous complaint – Simon Thomas, and UKIP’s Neil Hamilton who provided a very full and sympathetic response to Tricia’s plight; then, the Welsh Government contacted Tricia and asked for her permission to deal with Student Finance Wales on her behalf.

Finally, a day or so later, Tricia was emailed by Student Finance Wales to say that they were now acting on her complaint.

Mysteriously, the letter telling her that her identity proof was unacceptable arrived postmarked October 31, the same day as her complaint.

Within seven days of contacting her local AMs, Tricia was told that her student finance had been approved and that payments would be made shortly. She does not think that is a coincidence.

Tricia is, however, still frustrated by the whole experience.

“The situation had become ridiculous. I was being discriminated against for being an older woman, who had been married before. They not only had all my information already, they told me they could see it on the computer system and yet still said they needed it again. It’s bureaucracy for the sake of it. And as for not allowing customers to see complaints raised on their behalf, I bet their complaints clear up rate is stellar.

“Again, it was only when I complained and copied in AMs that there was any movement at all. That is not right and just makes me wonder how many students who have not contacted their own AMs have been forced out of higher education by Student Finance Wales incompetence.”

She concluded: “When I initially raised issues about the process way back in August I was told that I should blame the Welsh Government! To make matters worse, it had been suggested to me that I could get my parents to confirm my name change. I could, I suppose, have got a shovel or Ouija board, but neither of those options was very appealing!”

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education Llyr Gruffydd said: “Plaid Cymru believes education is a right not a privilege so we want to make sure there is fair play when it comes to Student Finance Wales regardless of age or gender.”

Mid and West AM Simon Thomas added: “A constituent has informed me of a formal complaint they have made regarding the way in which their application for student finance has been handled by Student Finance Wales. Their application for student finance has still not been processed – almost five months after the initial application was made.

“My constituent feels that Student Finance Wales indirectly discriminate on the grounds of age and gender.”

Simon Thomas has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Education requesting the following information.

  • An outline of Student Finance Wales’ complaints procedure
  • The number of complaints received by Student Finance Wales each year in the last five years
  • A breakdown of the nature of the complaints received
  • An outline of the evidence of income and identity Student Finance Wales asks for in order to process a student’s application for student finance
  • Tricia’s constituency AM, Paul Davies told The Herald: “The experiences that Tricia has had with Student Finance Wales are deeply disappointing and caused her unnecessary distress, at a time when she should be focusing on her studies. It’s clear that there are failings in the system, which continue to be unaddressed and the Welsh Government should now commit to seriously reviewing Student Finance Wales’ operations.

    “Sadly, this is not the first worrying experience that Tricia has faced throughout her studies and it’s simply unacceptable. Lessons clearly haven’t been learnt from previous occasions and therefore it’s important that the Welsh Government urgently addresses these problems to ensure that other students are not faced with similar problems in the future.”

Education

‘Physics education is at breaking point’: calls for teaching incentives to match England’s

Published

on

PHYSICS education is at breaking point in Wales due to a lack of teachers, yet training bursaries are £14,000 higher across the border in England, a committee heard.

Eluned Parrott, head of Wales at the Institute of Physics, warned Wales had fewer physics-trained teachers (174) than secondary schools (205) in 2024.

She told the Senedd’s education committee no one measure is going to be a silver bullet but evidence shows teacher training incentives work.

“That’s why we’re calling on the Welsh Government to increase our physics teacher trainee bursary from £15,000 to match England’s £29,000,” she said.

“We need a bold reset to recruit, retain and retrain the next generation of physics specialists to help secure the future of physics in Welsh schools.”

Ms Parrott, a former politician, said only seven specialist physics teachers qualified through Wales’ initial teacher education (ITE) system from an intake of ten in 2023/24.

She said: “The intake allocation target was 67, meaning the intake fell 86% short…. The intake allocation target has since been increased to 72. It is unlikely to be reached.”

Warning of systemic challenges, Ms Parrott expressed concerns about investment in Welsh ITE compared with centres in other parts of the UK.

Contrasting the two, she told the committee: “You could go to study in an ITE centre that has a full-time professional and professorial level of ITE tuition or you could go to somewhere else where they’re struggling to recruit part-time tutors to help you.”

Ms Parrott, a former Liberal Democrat member of the then-Assembly, suggested setting up a centre of excellence for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Stem).

She explained: “It is important to have ITE centres spread out across the country but – rather than spreading that expertise – maybe create something that is robust, academically respected, driving improvements across ITE.”

Ms Parrott said: “I think there’s also an equity issue here with the bursaries and what that means because you cannot realistically live on the bursary that you would get in Wales.

“So, if you come from a less wealthy background, it is a major financial choice to take on another year of study and take on another year of student debt and another year of living a hand-to-mouth existence.”

She warned teacher shortages are far worse through the medium of Welsh – describing Welsh-speaking, physics-trained teachers as like unicorns.

Ms Parrott told Senedd Members: “Obviously, a lot of Welsh students do their undergraduate study in England. We need to be attracting them back because they’ve got, potentially, a Welsh-language skill that they are therefore not using.”

Annette Farrell, of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Annette Farrell, of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Annette Farrell warned Wales is “way off the mark” for chemistry too, with seven passing their postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) in 2023/24 against a target of 67.

The Royal Society of Chemistry expert warned financial barriers are a big issue, with cross-border differences on incentives making training an unviable option for some.

“If you compare the English bursary system to Wales,” said Ms Farrell. “Once you’ve taken account of… fees and everything, Welsh students next year will only take home £2,465. If you compare that with England… that’s £19,465.”

She lamented the loss of Bangor’s chemistry provision, with only centres in Cardiff and Swansea, creating a “massive cold spot in the north”.

Ms Farrell emphasised the need to look at the financial sustainability of higher education more generally and address workload issues for teachers.

She raised concerns about possible unintended consequences from plans to scrap separate science GCSEs in favour of separate teaching but a double-award qualification.

Shabana Brightley, from the Royal Society of Biology, echoed her colleagues’ comments as the trio gave evidence on June 18 to a wider inquiry on teacher recruitment and retention.

Shabana Brightley, of the Royal Society of Biology
Shabana Brightley, of the Royal Society of Biology

“Based on the bursaries in England and all the incentives they get…they would rather go across the border to go and get trained,” she said.

Ms Brightly, a former primary and secondary school teacher, told the committee: “Early career support is very important, especially having subject-specific mentors in schools.”

She warned: “Let’s say a biology teacher is then having to teach physics and chemistry, which they’ve maybe not done since GCSE – that is a huge burden.”

Continue Reading

Education

School closure raises alarm over future of alternative education in Pembrokeshire

Published

on

Westward House to shut after just one year—former Castle School site under same ownership set to close again

A SCHOOL offering specialist support to children with additional learning needs is to close at the end of this term—less than a year after it opened in the same building where a mainstream private school under the same ownership and management shut its doors last summer.

Westward House School in Haverfordwest will close in July, marking the second collapse of an independent education venture at Glenover House, Scarrowscant Lane, in under 12 months.

Both schools were founded and run by education provider Harriet Harrison, who opened Castle School in 2009 to offer mainstream independent education with a strong academic focus. That school closed in July 2024, citing the loss of key staff, mounting regulatory pressure, and rising operational costs.

In response, Mrs Harrison set up Westward House School—a new, smaller school designed to provide alternative education provision for children with additional needs who were not thriving in mainstream settings. Originally based in St Clears, it relocated to the former Castle School premises in Haverfordwest last year.

But speaking this week, Mrs Harrison confirmed that Westward House will now also close—this time due to a worsening financial situation made unmanageable by VAT changes introduced earlier this year.

Crushed by costs and policy change

“It’s devastating,” Mrs Harrison said. “Castle School was a traditional independent school, but we knew there were still families in Pembrokeshire whose children weren’t coping in mainstream. That’s why we opened Westward House—to meet that need. It was a new name, but the same mission to do right by the pupils.”

She said the school’s model, based on small class sizes, specialist support, and consistent pastoral care, had proven highly effective—but was no longer financially viable.

“Since January, all private schools have been required to add 20 per cent VAT to their fees,” she said. “This hit families hard. Our fees hadn’t risen since we opened in 2021, but the cost of wages, insurance, and energy have risen sharply. That extra 20 per cent was the final straw for many.”

The impact has been especially severe in west Wales, where local authorities such as Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire have not funded placements at Westward House, unlike in Cardiff where Harrison’s sister school, Eastward House, works closely with local government.

A loss for vulnerable learners

Westward House prided itself on helping children who had struggled in other schools. Its strapline, “Qualifications are important, but self-esteem is life-changing,” encapsulated its therapeutic approach to learning.

“Although most of our learners have now completed their GCSEs and are moving on to college or sixth form,” Mrs Harrison said, “some younger pupils still need support. That’s why I’m pleased to say we’ve been working closely with the Cherry Grove Learning Centre, which is due to open soon in Haverfordwest.”

The new centre will offer small-group teaching, pastoral support, external exam entry, and an enriched curriculum—providing, she hopes, “a lifeline” for families affected by the closure.

National pattern of closures

Westward House is not alone. Across the UK, small independent schools are closing at an alarming rate. The Labour policy of adding VAT to private school fees—intended to fund thousands of new state-sector teachers—has hit smaller, non-elite schools the hardest. Unlike Eton or Harrow, most small independent schools have no historic endowments or corporate backers.

According to a recent Times report, Whitehall officials are already braced for a wave of closures as schools struggle with inflation, declining enrolment, and new tax burdens.

Glenover House—built around 1907 and used as a school for decades—is now listed for sale at £495,000.

Whether it will reopen again as an education site remains to be seen. But for the second time in a year, the pupils, parents, and staff of a Harrison-run school are saying goodbye.

Photo caption:

Déjà vu: Glenover House, former site of Castle School and Westward House, is now for sale once again (Pic: Rightmove)

Continue Reading

Education

Improvement in reading and numeracy attainment, Welsh Government announces

Published

on

Attainment in Numeracy, Welsh Reading and English Reading has improved in 2023/24, new statistics show.

English Reading saw attainment levels improve across all year groups compared to 2022/23. Learners in Year 3 showed sustained improvement with levels in English Reading being higher than in both 2020/2021 and 2021/22. Welsh Reading presented some improvement across Years 3 to 9, compared to 2022/23. Younger years have shown the greatest degree of improvement in Numeracy (Procedural), whilst Numeracy (Reasoning) has remained relatively stable. These statistics were published today using anonymised data from the national personalised assessments.

Personalised assessments are adaptive online assessments in four subjects taken by all learners in Years 2 to 9 in maintained schools. They aim to support learning by providing information on the reading and numeracy skills of individual learners. They highlight where learners are making progress, as well as which skills could be developed further.

‘Progress in encouraging’: Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle

Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle said: “It is encouraging to see progress in attainment in reading and numeracy. This improvement highlights the impact our investments are making in schools to ensure every learner has the opportunity to reach their full potential. These assessments help to support all our learners in their educational journey by providing a valuable insight into their strengths and emerging skills.

“I would also like to thank our teachers and the education workforce for their hard work and dedication in supporting our learners and for their continued commitment and professionalism in responding to our national priorities.”

Headteacher Trystan Phillips at Ysgol Gymunedol Penparc in Ceredigion said: “We have evolved in our use of the Personalised Assessments to move away from their use as a summative resource to being a resource that truly influences progress. The use of the different group reports have been invaluable in not only recognising strengths and areas to improve for year groups but also showing examples and exercises that can be used. They’re very much now a device to support pupil progress”.

Estyn’s Chief Inspector, Owen Evans said: “Personalised assessments are a useful tool for schools. They enable teachers to tailor support for individual pupils and track progress over time. We are pleased to see some improvement, but schools need to work together to support attainment, and ensure there is a relentless focus on improving reading and mathematics for all learners. Estyn will continue to work to support schools, and urge leaders to use resources, such as our recent thematic review ‘Unlocking potential: Insights into improving teaching and leadership in mathematics education’ to help improve teaching and learning.”

Continue Reading

News7 hours ago

Milford Haven gas imports at risk as Iran votes to close Strait of Hormuz

Qatari tankers could be blocked from reaching Wales if Gulf tension escalates IRAN has voted to close the Strait of...

Crime8 hours ago

Robbery at Milford Haven store: Man arrested after stealing vodka

POLICE in Milford Haven have arrested a man following a robbery at the Pill Corner Store on Saturday afternoon (June...

Crime18 hours ago

Police block Brechfa rave as hundreds descend on remote woodland

Officers issue dispersal order after overnight ‘well-organised’ gathering in Carmarthenshire countryside DYFED-POWYS POLICE have intervened to shut down a large...

Entertainment2 days ago

Thousands mark 40 years of Pride in the Welsh capital

Cardiff comes alive with colour, music, and celebration as Pride Cymru commemorates historic milestone THOUSANDS of people took to the...

Crime2 days ago

Milford Haven woman and inmate to appear in court following drugs raid

Police seized cocaine, cannabis and £2,470 in cash at Howarth Close A WOMAN from Milford Haven and a man currently...

News2 days ago

Man airlifted to Cardiff after serious crash near Tenby

Retired couple from Merthyr injured in collision on A4139 A MAN has been airlifted to hospital in Cardiff with serious...

News2 days ago

Henry Tufnell among MPs approve assisted dying bill in landmark vote

24 Welsh MPs support change in end-of-life law A CONTROVERSIAL bill to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults has...

Education3 days ago

School closure raises alarm over future of alternative education in Pembrokeshire

Westward House to shut after just one year—former Castle School site under same ownership set to close again A SCHOOL...

Business4 days ago

Celtic Holiday Parks in administration as buyer sought

Popular holiday sites at Narberth and Amroth continue to trade CELTIC HOLIDAY PARKS, the family-run company behind two of Pembrokeshire’s...

Health4 days ago

Locked up for Autism: Thousands detained under mental health law

“He didn’t break the law. He just needed help. Now he’s locked in a hospital hundreds of miles away.” —...

Popular This Week