Long term gradual financial pressures on the higher education sector are now being exacerbated by changes in government policy on international students, impacting student recruitment and budget projections across the UK higher education sector.
Suddenly, the financial concerns raised in the recent PwC report on the financial sustainability of UK universities commissioned by Universities UK have flipped from chronic to acute.
Media reporting and responses to the financial impact have focused mainly on the potential risks to individual providers, or parts of the sector. However, the scale of the current risks, and the interaction of factors, make this a concern for the whole UK HE sector, and indeed for the UK economy and society. If the current international recruitment trends continue, the consequences will be profound and, importantly, not easily reversed by either the current or any future government. This is a moment for immediate and robust collective action.
