University leaders gather as new report reveals UK higher education has a £130bn economic impact.
The new President of Universities UK (UUK) has used her inaugural speech to celebrate the role of universities in driving social change, generating jobs and tackling the UK’s biggest challenges, but called on government to back universities and protect the transformative benefits of higher education.
As 300 senior university leaders gathered at the University of Manchester for UUK’s Annual Conference, a new report by London Economics shows that in 2021/2022, universities had a positive economic impact of £116 billion, and supported 760,000 jobs. Nearly half (382,500), are indirect, employed by local businesses such as restaurants and retailers who benefit from the economic stimulus universities create. Taken alongside existing evidence showing a single cohort of international students generated £14.8bn, it brings the total economic impact from UK universities to over £130bn in 2021/22.
But Professor Mapstone— Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews—warns that this positive activity cannot continue without the right support, and highlighted that funding is at its lowest point in 25 years, with tuition fees in England to be worth only £5,800 in 2011-12 prices by 2025-26.
