During Spokesperson’s Questions to Labour’s Cabinet Secretary for Education, the Welsh Conservatives once again raised concerns about Cardiff University’s decision to open a campus in Kazakhstan. Fresh controversies have emerged, with staff at the overseas campus reporting poor working conditions, an appalling lack of organisation between Cardiff and the Astana campus, and failures to pay agreed relocation expenses, with some staff returning home within a month.
Ms Asghar also highlighted, at the same time Cardiff University was proposing 400 redundancies and threatening to close its Nursing School and other departments, senior leadership were spending thousands on flights and accommodation for trips to Kazakhstan. Between 2024 and 2025 alone, the Vice Chancellor incurred more than £8,500 in air travel and over £1,750 in accommodation costs.
Commenting after Spokesperson’s Questions, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Natasha Asghar MS, said:
“Cardiff University’s Kazakhstan campus continues to attract controversies, with staff sighting poor working conditions, bad organisation and failures to pay relocation expenses.
“Additionally, at a time when Cardiff University proposed cutting 400 jobs, the Vice Chancellor spent thousands of pounds on flights and accommodation to Kazakhstan, a tone-deaf decision that raises serious questions regarding her priorities.
“With tuition fees rising and fewer young people choosing to go to university, Wales’ only Russell Group University has a responsibility to attract the best and brightest from across the UK to attend University, not waste money on overseas trips and foreign campuses.”
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