Since 2011 the UK’s universities have experienced unprecedented changes in the policy environment, in the funding of higher education and in government policy on the recruitment of international students. These changes are occurring against the backdrop of a volatile external economic environment and significant demographic developments. All of this has implications for the funding and financial sustainability of our universities.
This report examines the effect of changes to funding and immigration policy on UK universities, by analysing undergraduate and postgraduate student recruitment from the UK, EU and non-EU countries for 2012–13.
The report finds that in the short to medium term, institutions face challenges in funding capital expenditure, and also that the sector’s ability to expand sustainably is significantly constrained.
