Universities UK response to OfS report on financial sustainability

This country needs its universities to be firing on all cylinders if we are going to get the economy growing and improve public services. But this new analysis from the OfS shows the scale of the challenge. It is a source of serious concern. Universities in all four nations of the UK are in an extremely difficult position.

A decade long near freeze in England saw inflation erode the real value of student fees by around a third. The recent government announcement to address this was an extremely welcome step towards fixing the underlying problem. However, we need to work on a longer-term solution. This will take action by universities themselves, and by governments in all nations of the UK. 

Universities are financially responsible organisations, who work hard to carefully plan and manage their finances. Across the sector tough decisions have already been made to control costs, and universities will look to go further still to be as efficient and effective as possible.  As set out in our recent Blueprint, Universities UK has committed to leading a taskforce to unlock the savings which could be delivered by collaborating at a national level.