Universities are preparing to offer a reduction in the growth of international student numbers in exchange for increased financial support and the ability to raise tuition fees.
A soon-to-be-released “blueprint” from Universities UK (UUK) will propose allowing tuition fees to rise with inflation and call for increased government funding.
The plan includes a commitment from institutions to voluntarily manage the growth of their international student populations, particularly in areas facing housing shortages or pressure on local services.
Vivienne Stern, UUK’s chief executive, emphasised:
“We don't want to restrain growth in international student numbers but we need to have sustainable and well-managed solutions.”
This move comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to reduce net immigration across the UK.
Universities supposedly losing over £2,500 per student
The financial strain on universities has intensified since domestic undergraduate tuition fees in England were capped at £9,250 in 2017.
Inflation has eroded the value of these fees, forcing institutions to rely heavily on uncapped fees from international students to maintain financial stability.
According to the blueprint, the cost of teaching and supporting a domestic undergraduate in England ranges between £12,000 and £13,000 annually.
While the document doesn’t specify an exact figure, it argues that both a tuition fee increase and greater government investment are necessary to prevent the sector’s “slide into decline”.
Prof Duncan Ivison, vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester, said:
“The Labor government in Australia has just introduced caps on international students, which will result in a roughly 30% cut to international students at most of the research-intensive universities in Australia, and Labor is a progressive-left government, which is very close with the Starmer government.”
Student concerns over increased financial burden
The proposals also include calls for the reinstatement of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students in England, as well as increases to maintenance loans and eligibility in line with inflation.
However, Alex Stanley, the National Union of Students’ vice-president for higher education, cautioned against shifting the financial burden onto students:
“Students must not be expected to foot the bill for the university funding crisis. Increasing tuition fees would only up the debt burden on students, especially those from the poorest backgrounds, and further punish students who are investing in their futures and the future of the country.”
Research funding reform
The blueprint also addresses research funding, with a section written by Labour peer Peter Mandelson arguing that the UK needs to reform its approach to funding cutting-edge science to become “a country of the future and not the past”.
The report contends that innovative research is too thinly spread around the country and lacks sufficient integration with industrial sectors.
According to the Financial Times, universities sustained a £5.3bn deficit on their research activities in 2022-23.
In response to these developments, a Department for Education spokesperson stated:
“We have inherited a challenging set of circumstances in higher education. The education secretary has taken the crucial first step of refocusing the role of the Office for Students on key areas such as monitoring financial sustainability, to ensure universities can secure their financial health in the longer term.”
“By bringing economic stability and growth, we can fix the foundations of our economy, strengthen our higher education system and rebuild Britain.”
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