Special Report: Part I: British Universities on the Brink

Reporting: Connor Lovell “The likelihood of a [higher education] provider failing at scale is an order of magnitude greater than at any time previously in the last decade. Less a matter of ‘if’ and more a matter of ‘when.’” – Falmouth University’s evidence to Parliament The U.K Higher Education sector is in acute financial distress. Universities boomed in the quarter century after former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s stated ambition to send 50% of all school leavers to university. In September, the target, which was met in 2019, was abandoned by the current Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as no longer “right for our times.” In 2012, U.K. universities flush with cash from the tripling of domestic and EU undergraduate fees to £9,000 a year began a period of rapid expansion with significant investment in student facilities and accommodation. The 2012 reforms increased average university funding by 25%, but in the years since, domestic fees have barely changed – they are £9,535 for the 2025/2026 academic year and were subject to a seven-year freeze from 2018. The funding squeeze has made institutions increasingly reliant on foreign students who pay on average 2.6x more for their tuition fees than home students, leading to[...]