USW’s £1bn Boost For UK Economy
A new expert report has revealed that Wales’s largest university group contributed more than £1.2bn to the UK economy last year.
The study into the University of South Wales Group, by independent consultancy BiGGAR Economics, concludes that for every £1 generated as a result of direct operations in the 12 months up to September 2015, the UK economy benefited by more than £8. For each £1 the USW Group received in funding, the corresponding financial benefit added up to more than £6.
The report, launched at an event in the National Assembly’s Senedd on Monday, July 4, looked at the economic impact that the USW Group – including the University’s subsidiaries, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and The College Merthyr Tydfil – has on the economy of the Cardiff City Region, Wales, and on the UK as a whole.
The key findings also show that:
Each person directly employed the USW Group supports 3.5 more jobs in the UK.
Students who graduated from USW last year can be expected to earn a collective total of around £627m more over their lifetimes than they might have if they didn’t have a degree, which is a graduate premium of £104,606.
The report also highlights what impact the USW Group has on the Cardiff City Region – the 10 counties bordered by Bridgend in the west, Merthyr in the north, and Monmouthshire in the east.
It found:
- 64% of USW students remain in the Cardiff City Region after they graduate, so the University had a greater local impact than institutions where a higher proportion of graduates leave the area.
- USW Group students undertaking part-time employment generated £81.9m Gross Value Added (GVA) for the Cardiff Region and 3,070 jobs.
- People visiting students and staff or attending conferences, events, performances and open days, generated £5m GVA for the Cardiff Region and supported 275 jobs.
- 79,000 days of CPD training for learners in South Wales was undertaken in 2014/15, making the University one of the top 10 HE institutions in the UK by volume of delivery.
- 29% of USW students come from the most deprived areas of Wales, higher than any other Welsh university.
While attracting the majority of its students from the immediate area around its campuses – in Pontypridd, Cardiff and Newport – the USW Group also has a major impact across the UK.
- In 2014/15 USW generated £1.2 billion GVA and supported 14,120 jobs across the UK.
- The total operational impact of the Group amounted to £257.50m GVA and 6,433 jobs across the UK.
- Through their spending, part-time work and volunteering, USW students supported £281m GVA and more than 6,400 jobs in the UK.
- Our work with international students brought £22.2m directly into the UK economy.
Commenting on the report, Professor Julie Lydon, USW’s Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the USW Group, said:
“The findings of this expert report show the substantial contribution that USW makes to the economy of the UK, and to the lives of the many people who come into contact with us – either directly or indirectly.
“Today, as the report shows, USW is not only unlocking individual talent and transforming individual lives. It is also supporting many thousands of people more by playing a key role in the wider economy.
“It also shows that we have a major influence in our region. We are South East Wales’s major regional university, and our group includes the national conservatoire and a leading college of Further Education.
“A substantial number of our 30,000 students come from our region, and the majority stay and work here after they graduate to add value to their communities and our regional economy. That is something that we are very proud of. USW is a hugely positive force in this part of Wales, and our impact is felt far and wide.”
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