As universities prepare to welcome a new cohort of students, a new report by London Economics has revealed that higher education makes a £116 billion contribution to the UK economy - £130 billion including the spending of international students.
Commissioned by Universities UK (UUK), the report further reveals that universities support more than three quarters of a million jobs (768,000), of which nearly half (382,500), are indirect, employed by local businesses such as restaurants and retailers who benefit from the economic stimulus universities create.
As the sector contends with challenges including a £1bn funding hole in domestic student tuition fees and the pressures created by the cost of living crisis, UUK says there is a pressing need to reform how universities are supported in order to sustain their positive economic impact.
Universities are the beating heart of so many local communities. As economic hubs in their own right they support and create a huge number of jobs across multiple sectors, meaning people up and down the UK benefit financially, whether or not they have a degree. They also play a crucial role in creating the graduates, spin outs and start-ups that provide the basis for economic growth in future.
The country’s continued investment in higher education institutions can and does pay back dividends for the UK as a whole.
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE
Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews and President of Universities UK
The benefit to sectors from university activities in the 2021–22 academic year are:
The figures come as Higher Education Statistical Agency figures show a record 17,933 student start-up businesses now operate in the UK, while the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE) forecast universities will help attract more than £2bn in funding for local regeneration projects.
There is no doubt about the contribution of the UK higher education sector to the UK economy. With approximately 2.9 million students and 385,000 staff across almost 300 higher education providers, the sector is instrumental in driving economic growth in both the short run and longer term.
Given the financial challenges institutions face, there is a need to provide both adequate resources to support teaching and learning activities, but also certainty in respect of research funding.
Dr Gavan Conlon
Partner at London Economics
Aside from producing a talent pool with highly sought after skills, universities provide local businesses and small enterprises with product development support, access to new markets, consultation services, incubators and research facilities.
Universities also have a track record of attracting funding for local regeneration projects with significant economic and social impact. Over the next five years, the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE) estimates that these will have a value of over £2 billion across the UK.
This includes the creation of one of Europe’s leading innovation quarters in Newcastle. Newcastle Helix will bring together industry leaders, researchers and residents in a new, high-quality community.
The biggest development of its kind in the UK, outside of London, it is an exemplar of sustainable urban regeneration combining prestigious commercial and residential space with first-class research and education facilities in the heart of a flourishing city. It is being delivered through unique public and private sector partnership between Newcastle City Council, Newcastle University and Legal & General.
Newcastle Helix will eventually create more than 4,000 jobs, 500,000 sq. ft of office and research space, and 450 new homes with all 24-acres of the site dedicated to helping everyone live better lives.
Working together with Newcastle University as well as L&G we’ve been able to support the talent coming into our region’s key sectors as well as develop a thriving eco-system of start-ups and spinouts that meet the challenges of the future.
Not only does this boost our local economy and create jobs for our residents, but it also puts Newcastle at the forefront of world-leading research and development of products and services that benefit those living, working and studying here.
Cllr Alex Hay
Newcastle City Council’s Cabinet member for a Thriving City
Another example was the proposed closure of the 20,000 square metres Debenhams building in Gloucester city centre which risked leaving a big hole in the high street following the retail chain’s collapse, until University of Gloucestershire stepped in. The university is refurbishing it into a hub for teaching, learning and community partnerships, restoring its heritage and bringing footfall to the city.
Working with health partners, part of the ground floor will become an Arts, Health and Wellbeing Centre, and Gloucestershire County Council will move its city library there. City Campus is part of a wider £200million regeneration of Gloucester city centre. Over the lifetime of the City Campus project, it is estimated that it will add more than £700 million of direct and indirect value to the economy – and when complete its operational and purposeful benefits are forecast to generate 7,225 jobs across the UK.
University of Gloucestershire moving into one of the city centre’s flagship buildings is an important part of our regeneration project in the city centre. It will guarantee the future of a much-loved building and see it become a hive of activity and learning.
It fits perfectly with our multi-million-pound regeneration of the Kings Square as an events space and The Forum which will attract specialised digital and technology companies creating a thousand new jobs.
Combined with the transport hub and plans to refurbish the train station, our long-standing vision to regenerate and revitalise this part of the city is well on the way to becoming a reality.
Cllr Richard Cook
leader of Gloucester City Council
