Category Archives: University funding

Vice-chancellor calls for review into student loans for those without A-levels

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Adam Tickell, of University of Birmingham, says money is loaned to people who ‘are not really capable of graduating’

A leading vice-chancellor has questioned whether students without A-levels should be eligible for government-backed student loans, as part of an effort to solve England’s university funding crisis.

Adam Tickell, vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham, said universities face an “almost existential challenge” and falling public support that requires a radical review of higher education funding.

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University students in England get two-thirds of funding of a decade ago, analysis finds

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University leaders says planned levy on international student fees will leave many institutions even worse off

University students in England get just two-thirds of the funding they would have received a decade ago, after inflation and government cuts have reduced the resources available for teaching, according to vice-chancellors.

University leaders said the situation was likely to get worse if the government went ahead with a new levy on international student fees in Wednesday’s budget.

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China-critical UK academics describe ‘extremely heavy’ pressure from Beijing

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Reliance on overseas students’ tuition fees under scrutiny as scholars describe chilling effect of being targeted

UK academics whose research is critical of China say they have been targeted and their universities subjected to “extremely heavy” pressure from Beijing, prompting calls for a fresh look at the sector’s dependence on tuition fee income from Chinese students.

The academics spoke out after the Guardian revealed this week that Sheffield Hallam University had complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, which had led to a big project being dropped.

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UK universities cut back on crucial research because of reduced funding

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One in five institutions spending less, including in areas such as cancer and heart disease, says report

Universities are cutting back on vital research, with world-leading work on deadly conditions such as cancer and heart disease under threat from an erosion in funding from government and charities, according to a report.

The report, compiled by Universities UK, found that one in five UK universities have reduced their research activity, including cuts to life sciences, medicine and environmental sciences, and many said they were expecting to make steeper cuts in the future because of mounting financial pressures.

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Students in England now graduate with average debt of £53,000, data shows

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Student Loans Company figures show 10% jump in a year as individuals increase borrowing to meet cost of living

Students in England are finishing their degrees with government loans averaging £53,000, a jump of 10% in a year, as they increase their borrowing to meet the rising cost of living.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has released figures showing individual loan balances were £5,000 higher in 2024-25 than a year earlier, when the average in England was £48,270.

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Fall in overseas students fuels threat to English universities despite rise in fees

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Higher tuition costs have already been ‘wiped out’ by government tax hikes, critics claim

A fall in international students applying for visas risks prolonging the existential threat facing some of England’s universities, sources in higher education say, amid warnings that an increase in tuition fees has already been “wiped out” by the government’s tax rises.

Despite the decision by ministers to increase fees for UK students this year to £9,535 – the first rise in eight years – figures across the universities sector said the financial situation remained dire, with further course closures and redundancies being widely considered.

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Labour’s ‘change of tone’ revives foreign students’ interest in UK universities

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Admissions officers report rise in number of inquiries from international students since general election

Applications by international students to UK universities have been revitalised in a welcome boost for the sector’s ailing financial health by the Labour government’s “change of tone” on immigration since the general election.

Vice-chancellors and admissions officers said a rise in the number of inquiries about courses and feedback from overseas recruitment agents suggested that the change in the government’s stance since the 4 July election had been widely noticed by potential international students and their families.

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Higher-tariff universities admit 13% more UK school-leavers than 2023, figures show

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Number of pupils accepted by ‘high tariff’ providers passes 100,000, after better than expected A-level results and fewer international students

Sixth-formers are rushing to take up places at the most selective universities, with figures showing a substantial increase in the numbers enrolling compared with last year after receiving their A-level results.

Experts said that “high tariff” universities, including those in the Russell Group of research intensive universities, were allocating more places to UK school-leavers this year after recruiting fewer international students.

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Next government faces hard choices on English universities, say experts

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Ministers left with unpalatable options of raising tuition fees, making grants or capping student numbers, says IFS

The next government faces “unpalatable” choices between raising tuition fees, making direct grants or capping student numbers to rescue universities in England from their financial black hole, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.

The thinktank said universities that relied on teaching UK students for the bulk of their income were most vulnerable, calculating that undergraduate tuition fees would now be £12,000 if they had kept pace with inflation, rather than the £9,250 rate frozen since 2016.

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UK universities valued more than institutions like parliament and BBC, finds survey

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King’s College London poll finds people rank universities behind only the NHS, armed forces and royal family

The British public values the UK’s universities more highly than the legal system or the BBC, according to a survey of attitudes towards higher education by King’s College London.

Prof Bobby Duffy, the director of King’s College London’s policy institute, said universities came behind only the NHS, the armed forces and the royal family in a league table of UK institutions considered to be among the best in the world by the public.

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More than half of UK students working long hours in paid jobs

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Lack of maintenance support is creating two-tier higher education system, say experts

More than half of full-time students are working long hours in jobs to support themselves at university, spending nearly two days a week in paid employment during term time, owing to the cost of living crisis.

A survey of 10,000 full-time UK undergraduates by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) found a record 56% had paid employment while they were studying, working an average of 14.5 hours each week.

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Next government must make hard university funding decisions, fast

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Labour sees no electoral gain in flagging sector’s funding crisis – but losses cannot be sustained much longer

Why are universities in such financial dire straits? According to one sector leader, it’s because they are losing money on two of their three income streams, while their third source is under attack by the government.

“We are already in a state where teaching home students operates at a loss, doing research operates at a loss, and the international student market has been diminished by the government’s rhetoric and policy. And those are the three areas where universities get their income,” said Rachel Hewitt, chief executive of the MillionPlus association of modern universities that includes Bath Spa, Wolverhampton and Sunderland.

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One in three of England’s university starters ‘may live at home’ this year

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Study shows cost of living influencing students’ choice, with fears of limiting effect on career options

One in three students starting university this year may opt to live at home, according to new research that found rising costs and family needs are affecting the “Covid generation” of school-leavers.

Before the pandemic about 20% of first year undergraduates in England lived at home while studying, including older mature students. But a new survey of current sixth formers by University College London found that as many as 34% of 18-year-old school-leavers could stay at home if accepted by their first-choice university when exam results are published next week.

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Sunak to force English universities to cap numbers of students on ‘low-value’ degrees

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Exclusive: Move penalises courses with a high proportion of working-class or minority ethnic students, critics say

Rishi Sunak will force universities to limit the number of students taking “low-value” degrees in England, a measure which is most likely to hit working class and black, Asian and minority ethnic applicants.

Courses will be capped that do not have a high proportion of graduates getting a professional job, going into postgraduate study or starting a business, the prime minister will announce on Monday.

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Funding model for UK higher education is ‘broken’, say university VCs

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Vice-chancellors urge review of tuition fees in light of caps on overseas students and rising costs

Vice-chancellors are warning the current funding model for UK higher education is “broken” and have urged the government to review the system of tuition fees, which have been capped at about £9,000 for more than a decade.

They have made clear that limits to overseas students announced last week on top of rising costs caused by inflation posed a serious risk to universities which would require more funding from government.

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Brexit causes collapse in European research funding for Oxbridge

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Oxford and Cambridge universities, once given more than £130m a year in total by European research programmes, are now getting £1m annually between them

One of the UK’s most prestigious universities has seen its funding from a large European research programme plummet from £62m a year to nothing since Brexit, new figures show.

The latest statistics from the European Commission reveal that Cambridge University, which netted €483m (£433m) over the seven years of the last European research funding programme, Horizon 2020, has not received any funding in the first two years of the new Horizon Europe programme.

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Cap on foreign student numbers could send UK universities ‘over the edge’

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Chair of Migration Advisory Committee warns that some institutions would struggle to survive financially

Universities could go bankrupt if the government limits the number of foreign students in a bid to bring down net migration, an adviser on immigration policy has warned.

Rishi Sunak’s potential plan to clamp down on international students taking “low-quality” degrees could “send many universities over the edge”, particularly in poorer regions, the chair of the government’s Migration Advisory Committee said.

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Student loan interest rate to be capped at 7.3% in autumn, says DfE

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Ministers intervene to stop interest rate in England and Wales reaching 12% with inflation by September

Ministers have intervened to reduce a sharp rise in interest rates charged on student loans, after the recent increase in inflation which meant rates would treble for many graduates by the autumn.

The Department for Education said the maximum rate from September is to be fixed at 7.3% rather than the 12% it would have reached by September, based on earlier inflation figures plus 3%.

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Degrees underfunded by £1,750 per student, Russell Group says

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Group says deficit would widen to £4,000 under plan to freeze tuition fees in England until 2024-25

Each undergraduate costs England’s leading universities nearly £2,000 as tuition fees and teaching grants fail to fully fund a degree, and that amount is likely to double soon unless the government acts to fill the gap.

A submission by the Russell Group of research-intensive universities – including the University of Manchester and University College London – to a consultation on higher education funding revealed that the average cost per student was £1,750 more than they receive in tuition fees and teaching grants.

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Oxford college to change its name after £155m donation

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Linacre College to rename itself Thao College after funding offer from Vietnam’s richest woman

A University of Oxford college is to change its name to honour Vietnam’s richest woman after she offered it a £155m donation.

Linacre College says it will ask the privy council for permission to change its name to Thao College after signing a memorandum of understanding over the money with Sovico Group – represented by its chair, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.

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