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Published 11/03/2026
Led by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), the Wales Health Student Forum (WHSF) is a group for pre‑registration healthcare students in Wales that supports the development of a skilled and sustainable future workforce.
The WHSF empowers students to use their voice to influence improvements across healthcare education and training. It provides them with an opportunity and platform to exchange learning, discuss placements, highlight best practice and build professional networks that support collaborative education across healthcare in Wales.
George Turner is an Educational Development Manager at HEIW and leads on the WHSF. George is an advocate of the learner voice and commented:
“The Wales Health Student Forum plays a significant role in strengthening student voice across commissioned healthcare programmes in Wales on a national basis. It provides an opportunity and a platform which students can share lived experiences, identify emerging themes and contribute meaningfully to discussions that influence work involving HEIW. For students, involvement in the Forum enhances representation, empowers them to shape their learning environments and builds confidence, leadership capability and system-level understanding. Participation offers a unique opportunity to engage directly with HEIW and system partners, ensuring that student perspectives are also heard at a strategic level across Wales.”
The WHSF offers students a fantastic opportunity to help shape and improve the education experience for current and future learners.
Thalia Lau, a physiotherapy student at Cardiff University and proud member of the WHSF, has shared her experience of the forum and how it is helping to shape healthcare education and training in Wales on a subject close to her heart.
How did you get involved in the Wales Health Student Forum?
“I first got involved through a student engagement event in Newport, where I was invited to take part in a discussion panel. During that event, I learned more about student engagement structures and saw it as an opportunity to pitch my ideas directly to HEIW and NHS Wales, particularly around increasing representation and support for global majority students. From that point on, I became involved in the working group and have since been part of developing and launching this initiative.”
Why is it important, and how does it make you feel?
“This work is important to me because it addresses a real gap in representation, belonging and equity for global majority students in health education and training in Wales. Our student population is becoming more diverse, but that diversity isn’t always reflected in leadership, policy, or learning environments. Being part of this makes me feel proud and motivated, it’s empowering to turn lived experiences into meaningful action and to help build something that didn’t previously exist.”
Have you seen any impact within your own student experience?
“Being involved has helped me develop confidence in leadership, advocacy and strategic working. It has shown me how powerful student voices can be in shaping change.
To learn more about the Wales Health Student Forum (WHSF) please visit the HEIW website or contact the HEIW Team.