"3 prestigious universities about to go bust" - on Radio 5 live this morning..

[devilsadvocate77]

...heard a chap who was contributing as part of Nicky's slot (still on) say that three unis are about to go bust, not to mention the many others who are running at a deficit.

Nicky asked if he would name them but he refused.

Any ideas??

I think some are cutting courses and jobs, technically bancrupt I have no idea and I don't know-

Coventry University
Plans to cut almost £100 million by 2026
University of Kent
Announced a voluntary redundancy scheme and cut six courses
University of East Anglia
Saw a 40% drop in international student numbers
Sheffield Hallam University
Announced plans to cut 400 posts, one in five of its workforce
University of York
Faces fears that up to 700 jobs could go
Goldsmiths
Planning or implementing staff and course cuts
Chichester
At particular risk of legal action because of its specialized portfolio

Fromm Google:The Office for Students estimates that around 40 of the UK's 120 universities are in deficit. The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) estimates that 40% of higher education institutions are thought to be in deficit in 2023/24

@Thatmakesperfectsense Thanks, he said 'prestigious' so could possibly include some of the above...

I would guess York is up there. They invested a lot in accommodation and facilities for international students banking on them continuing to come, post covid the numbers no longer stack up.

Have a look at the some universities will go bust thread - depressing reading but gives an insight

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5164744-some-universities-will-go-bust-thread-2

the thread that AelinAG referred to

i’d imagine definitions of “prestigious” vary a bit.

the finance info on hesa.ac.uk is quite illuminating

Apart from York none of those could be considered prestigious

York, Durham and Cardiff are in financial difficulties, but I doubt that they are about to go bust.

Why don't we accept the Tony Blair university experiment has been a failure? We need to revert to technical colleges, massively invest in training and apprenticeships for young people who don't need to be at a university to progress in their chosen career or trade and accept that only some professions require a degree.

We also need to address the ridiculous requirement made by many employers that degrees are essential for job applicants when in many cases, they simply aren't.

Liverpool university is screwed. Cutting corners left right and centre

Durham is in really bad shape economically
Oxford Brookes most indebted university. And before anyone says, not prestigious....it is stronger in some areas of research than its more famous neighbour,

Can we stop trotting this line out as if it is meaningful. Other countries want a well trained populace and use tax money to pay for that more directly than the stupid system we have that has turned universities into a market. Also, who do you think will offer technical training? Who will pay for it? Employers are not interested. It still costs money. Someone has to pay. Stop making out you are offering a solution when you are just jabbering.

I'm not 'jabbering' (love an insult when you can't actually counter with facts).

Universities are failing in this country and this has happened since we changed the education model. There is no suggestion that a well trained populace is not needed but surely it's reasonable to suggest that the current approach simply isn't working?

And I think you'll find Blair's intervention created the need for tuition fees. How's that going?

The "too big to fail" thing will kick in. Although bankrupt no big institution will stop altogether. Most likely they will merge and rationalise their operations. It suits everyone that they limp on as a full closure would be too catastrophic.

was Tony Blair PrimeMinister in 1992 then @TeenagersAngst ? I think you’ll find that was John Major and a Conservative government.

or how about in 2013? Pretty sure that was David Cameron when it was announced that the student number cap would be lifted in 2015/16.

At the end of Blair’s tenure around 25% of 18 year olds headed to Uni. As compared with almost 36% in 2023. The real growth rate n numbers didn’t come under Blair.

Blair certainly plays a part in all of this but just one element, and very limited in terms of actual key decisions like expanding the number of unis and lifting the student number cap.

What facts have you offered? So, students end et themselves to train in an area that will likely become reds and ant, or they go to university where they are also trained or developed in some way. What is the difference? Building firms or the NHS or whatever are not going to pay for training - in fact what they do is get the universities to do it. Really no difference.

As far the study is concerned, I think this might be a case of correlation does not equal causation. I've never heard or read about a single young person who has chosen their university location based on how successful the premier league team there is because what's in it for them?

Sheffield Hallam, Oxford Brookes, Kent. Lincoln, Coventry, Goldsmiths, Durham Cardiff also in difficulty

Cardiff is offering redundancy

I work in one of those universities and a red brick one in the same area is also losing similar numbers of staff but it’s not being reported on, not sure why.

Sheffield or Warwick?

Is it this study you are referring to?

https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2024/september-2024-news/football-clubs-performance-can-influence-students-choice-of-university-research-finds/#:~:text=The%20study%20revealed%20that%20relegation,teams%20that%20just%20escaped%20relegation.

75 universities have run voluntary redundancy schemes in the past year, including 8 universities in the top 20 in the CUG rankings, and it's anticipated that more will announce the opening of redundancy schemes in the coming weeks and months.

It's not even certain that any or all of the possibly-going-bankrupt universities are amongst the 75. Those 75 universities presumably feel some hope that they can save themselves by making cuts, although in some cases they may have already made the noted cuts and found them to not be enough.

It is also notable that several of the universities that are always talked about as being in financial difficulties are not on the list of universities that have been making cuts.

Warwick University have just spent £50m+ on an arts building and have been given £700m to invest in STEM research. They are definitely not struggling.

I haven't a clue if they're struggling or not but I don't think spending all that money proves they're not? They may have taken out huge loans to pay for it.