Wales confirms HND/HNC eligibility from 25 Dec 2025

If you teach or study in Wales, mark this date: 25 December 2025. New Welsh regulations set out exactly which higher education courses count as “eligible” for public funding under the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022. The Regulations were laid before the Senedd on 2 December and come into force on 25 December.

First, what “eligible” means here. It is not a label for student loans. It tells Medr - Wales’s Commission for Tertiary Education and Research - which courses it can fund providers to deliver. Medr may support provision that is wholly or mainly in Wales, or courses delivered to people who are ordinarily resident in Wales. Think provider funding to run courses, not individual student finance.

Which courses are included? The Regulations point to two broad groups already defined in education law. One is courses preparing learners for professional examinations set above A level or BTEC National standard. The other is courses taught at a standard higher than A level/BTEC National, whether or not they lead to an exam. These are the categories listed as paragraphs 1(g) and 1(h) in Schedule 6 of the Education Reform Act 1988.

There is also a specific Welsh addition many colleges have asked about. Higher National Diplomas (HND) and Higher National Certificates (HNC) - the BTEC Higher Nationals - are confirmed as eligible when they are identified within a recognised Welsh apprenticeship framework. In other words, if your HND/HNC sits inside a recognised Welsh framework, it is named in the Regulations.

A quick refresher on HNCs and HNDs. An HNC sits at Level 4; an HND sits at Level 5. They are typically delivered by colleges or universities, focus on applied knowledge, and can feed into a degree. As a rule of thumb, an HNC totals 120 credits at Level 4; an HND totals 240 credits across Levels 4 and 5. That’s why they are often described as being equivalent to the first one or two years of an honours degree.

So what exactly is a “recognised Welsh framework”? It’s a formal apprenticeship framework issued by the Welsh issuing authority under section 19(1) of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 - and still recognised (i.e. recognition has not been withdrawn). If your programme appears in that framework, it meets the “recognised Welsh framework” test used in the Regulations.

What changes for you from 25 December 2025. For providers, Medr has clear authority to fund delivery of the courses listed above - either where teaching happens wholly or mainly in Wales, or where learners are ordinarily resident in Wales. For HND/HNC, that funding route applies when those awards are part of a recognised Welsh apprenticeship framework. For learners, remember this is about provider funding. Student support (loans and grants) is governed by separate regulations.

How to read the rule of thumb in practice. If you deliver a programme that prepares learners for a professional exam above A level/BTEC National standard, or a module taught at that higher standard, you’re inside the 1(g)/1(h) categories. If you deliver a full HND or HNC, you’re eligible when that qualification is identified within a recognised Welsh framework. If you’re unsure where your course sits, ask your quality team to check the framework status and the course standard against Schedule 6.

A final detail for policy watchers. The Welsh Government is consolidating the post‑16 system under Medr, and section 89 of the 2022 Act is the funding lever these Regulations switch on. The Government’s own statement explains the intention: to ensure Medr can fund higher education courses of the type it already supports across higher apprenticeships and other programmes. For classrooms and workshops, that means clearer, tidier rules from this Christmas onwards.