Our submission to the Autumn Budget 2025

Our submission to the upcoming Autumn Budget sets out the role the higher education sector already plays in powering economic growth and opportunity, outlining an offer for how the sector can go further, and making recommendations for government to support this.  

Universities are critical partners to delivering the government’s missions, driving growth and productivity, fostering the innovations and research to fuel our futures, and widening opportunity. They play a central role in their local communities, boost local economies and are major international exporters.  

With the right support, they can go even further, and our submission sets out proposals to protect the skills pipeline and prepare graduates for the job market, maximise the contribution of university R&D and further break down barriers to opportunity.  

This vital role in delivering our shared, urgent, national mission shows why the sustained, long-term erosion of funding for teaching and research, which has created a financial storm for the sector, must be addressed. To secure universities’ considerable potential contributions for the good of the nation, there must be a stable financial settlement delivered through this Budget. 

More details on these proposals, along with our commitment to supporting the government’s priorities, can be found in our full submission document.

We propose that this investment in growth, and people’s future, should be achieved through: 

1. Fixing the foundations, by increasing critical funding streams in line with inflation - including research funding, tuition fees, and direct government teaching funding via the Strategic Priorities Grant.
2. Using public funding to harness university contributions to government priorities, such as the UK’s national security, clean energy transition and transforming the NHS.
3. Removing government-imposed costs and barriers to greater efficiency, helping universities to help themselves by removing barriers on VAT and the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, and dropping the planned tax on universities’ international fee income, which would further damage university financial stability. 

Our submission to the Autumn Budget 2025 [PDF]