Britain’s top universities have received more than £281 million in anonymous donations in the last five years – including from individuals and companies overseas, an investigation has found.
The University of Oxford alone accepted more than £106 million from donors who wished to remain anonymous – the highest amount of any Russell Group university – between 2017 and 2023, according to data obtained by the investigative website openDemocracy.
This included £10m from a donor from Azerbaijan, £13.3 million from an organisation in the US, and £4.2 million from an organisation registered in China.
The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, suggest that at least £281 million was given to institutions in the Russell Group – which represents 24 research-intensive universities in the UK – from donors who wanted to remain anonymous between January 2017 and May 2023.
Universities are usually aware of the identities of donors, but they can decide to keep their identities confidential and record the donations as anonymous.
Emails obtained by openDemocracy suggest that leaders in the university sector approached Whitehall officials last year to voice their concerns about proposals by MPs to improve transparency around overseas donations.
In January 2022, Conservative MP Jesse Norman proposed an amendment to the government’s Bill on free speech and academic freedom in higher education which called for universities to disclose any gift worth more than £50,000 with any “overseas counterparty” by reporting these to the Office for Students (OfS) and the Education Secretary for publication on a public register.
In a letter drafted to a government adviser in 2022, obtained by openDemocracy, Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge at the time, said the plans would “have a hugely damaging impact” on their philanthropy and the commercial operations of their subsidiaries.
